Supported objects
| Objects | Description |
|---|---|
| Projects | All Jira projects accessible to the service account. |
| Issues & Comments | All issues and their associated comments within accessible projects. |
| Identity | Users, groups, and group memberships required for permission mapping. |
| Activity | View events and update events (via webhook) to keep the index current. |
Supported API endpoints
| Purpose | Endpoint | Permission |
|---|---|---|
| Get users from group | group/member | Jira Administrators |
| Find groups | groups/picker | |
| Get issue | issues | |
| Get issue security level members | issue security schemes_members | |
| Get project | projects | |
| Get project issue security scheme | projects/issuesecuritylevelscheme | Administer Projects |
| Get project permission scheme | projects/permissionscheme | Administer Projects |
| Get project role for project | projects/roles | Administer Projects |
| Search for issues using JQL | search | |
| Get request types | servicedesk/projectKey:s/requesttype | |
| Get request type fields | servicedesk/projectKey:s/requesttype/field | |
| Search for filters | filter/search | |
| Get filter | filters | |
| List projects | project | |
| Get user groups | user | |
| Register a webhook | Before Jira DC 10: webhooks/1.0/webhook After Jira DC 10: jira-webhook/1.0/webhooks | Jira Administrators |
| Configure a webhook URL to send Update events | configure | |
| Get issue security schemes for older Jira DC versions | /issue_security_scheme_members |
Limitations
- Unsupported objects: Dashboards and filters are not supported due to API limitations in Jira Data Center.
- Access: The connector cannot index content that the service account cannot access (e.g., restricted issues or projects).
- Advanced permissions: The connector does not support advanced permission scenarios like user-custom-fields and group-custom-fields in issue security.
- Authentication: OAuth is supported but not through the standard self-serve flow; basic authentication (username/password) is the default.
Crawling and activity strategy
Glean uses a mixed strategy of periodic crawls and real-time event updates to maintain data freshness.| Crawl Type | Frequency | Webhook required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Content (Issues, Projects) | Configurable (Default: Full every 7 days, Incremental every 3 hours) | Yes | Incremental crawls capture changes since the last crawl. |
| Identity (Users, Groups) | Hourly | No | Captures user/group membership changes. |
| View Activity | Real-time | Yes (Requires Glean activity plugin) | Provides highly personalized search results based on user views. |
API rate limit configuration
- The API rate is set to 10 Queries Per Second (QPS) by default.
- For reasonable data freshness on larger Jira instances, Glean recommends configuring the rate to at least 10 QPS.
- You can increase this rate in the connector setup page, balancing the need for freshness against your Jira Data Center instance’s capacity.
Requirements
Proper setup in both Jira and Glean is essential for secure and reliable operation.Technical Requirements
- Jira version: Jira Data Center (self-hosted) instance, version 8.0.0 or higher.
- Network: Network connectivity must be established between Glean and your Jira DC instance. (Glean instance IPs must be allowlisted in your firewall.)
-
Glean Plugin: The Glean activity plugin must be installed in Jira (see table below for version compatibility).
Jira DC version Required plugin version < 9.0.0 ≤ 1.6.1 ≥ 9.0.0 and < 10.0.0 1.7.0 ≥ 10.0.0 ≥ 2.0.0
Service account and permissions
- Jira Data Center (DC) utilizes three key permission types relevant to connector access: two global permissions (Jira System Administrators and Jira Administrators) and one project permission (Administer Projects).
- The Glean service account needs at least the Jira Administrators global permission. The built-in
jira-administratorsgroup grants both global permissions by default. - You must create a dedicated service account in Jira for the connector. The required permissions depend on your chosen setup path:
| Privilege Level | Required Group | Permissions/Scopes |
|---|---|---|
| Recommended Setup (Admin) | Add service account to the jira-administrators group. | Grants the Jira Administrators global permission by default, which simplifies setup by enabling automatic webhook and plugin configuration. |
| Minimum Required (Non-Admin Path) | Browse Issues for all projects to be indexed, and Browse users and groups global permission. | Provides the essential read access required for the crawler to function without full admin privileges. |
Setup instructions
Perform the following steps to connect your Jira DC instance to Glean:1. Prepare credentials and service account
Perform the following steps in Jira:Step 1: Create a service account
- Sign in to Jira as an administrator.
- Navigate to User Management.
- Create a new user by entering a username, email, and password. This will serve as the Glean service account.
Step 2: Assign administrative permissions
- Click Edit Groups for the service account.
- Add the service account to the
jira-administratorsgroup. This permission is required for the Glean Crawler to function and for automatic webhook setup. - For Issue Security: To ensure the service account can crawl issues that have an issue security level attached, add the service account to all relevant issue security levels.
Step 3: Install the Glean activity extension
- Install the Glean activity extension from the Atlassian Marketplace.
- Follow the installation instructions provided on the Marketplace page.
2. Configure connector settings
Navigate to the Jira Data Center connector setup page in the Glean Admin Console and provide the following details:Step 4: Provide instance and access details
- Base URL: Enter the server’s base URL (e.g.,
https://jira.mydomain.com). Ensure you include the correct protocol (httporhttps) and exclude any trailing slash. - Additional domains: Enter all supplementary URLs for your Jira instance as a comma-separated list (e.g.,
domain1.com,domain2.com). Do not include the base URL. - Product access group(s): Enter the group(s) containing all Jira users (e.g.,
jira-software-users) as a comma-separated list. - API calls per second: Enter the number of API calls per second supported by your Jira instance.
Step 5: Enter service account credentials
- Service account username: Enter the username of the service account created in Step 1.
- Service account password: Enter the password of the service account created in Step 1.
- (Note: Ensure you enter the correct username, as it may differ from the email address.)
Step 6: Configure network and webhook
- Local/VPC hosting: If your Jira instance is hosted within your VPC and is not internet-exposed:
- Enter the server’s Hostname and IP address in the Server Host and Server IP fields.
- Network/SSL configuration: If you plan to resolve the hostname using a nameserver or update an SSL certificate, configure them under Settings → Networking Management. In this case, you do not need to specify the Server IP.
- Glean extension confirmation: Check the Activity Extension installed checkbox.
Step 7: Finalize setup
Click Save to complete the configuration. Because the service account is in thejira-administrators group, Glean will automatically set up the webhook and configure the extension after installation.
FAQs
When setting up the datasource, why am I getting the error: "Please try again. If this message persists, contact Glean for support"?
When setting up the datasource, why am I getting the error: "Please try again. If this message persists, contact Glean for support"?
This can occur for several reasons. Confirm the following:
- Confirm the protocol is included along with the domain for Base URL
- Confirm Queries per second (QPS) value is entered as a small, non-blank value - 10 can be used if you are unsure what to set
- Confirm your Glean instance IPs have been added to the allowlist within Jira DC. Contact Glean Support to retrieve your instance’s NAT IP and public proxy external IP.
- Ensure that traffic is allowed across your network for your instance’s NAT IP and public proxy external IP.
Why is the datasource stuck in the "Activating" status?
Why is the datasource stuck in the "Activating" status?
This status is expected for up to 15 minutes. If this status persists for more than 15 minutes, contact Glean Support for further assistance.
Troubleshooting and advanced notes
- Network and IP allowlisting: If your Jira DC instance is behind a firewall, allowlist Glean’s public proxy external IP/private proxy IP and NAT IP to ensure crawls and health checks succeed.
- Issue security enforcement: For proper Issue Security enforcement, ensure the latest compatible Glean activity plugin is installed and that the related configuration for enforcing issue security is enabled in Glean.
- Non-admin setup path: The non-admin path is supported but requires manual configuration of webhooks and plugin endpoints by the Jira Administrator. This path is slower and requires coordination between the Jira team and the Glean team.
Last updated: November 2025