Integrate VERA Workflow States into Jira Workflows

This guide will show you how to configure new or existing workflows to include VERA workflow states. The VERA workflow include Routing for Approval, Pending VERA Action, VERA Error, Approved, and Rejected VERA states. Statuses are allowed to exist before the Routing for Approval state as long as VERA states are set up correctly.

Workflow Update for 2022.2

In the 2022.2 release, VERA incorporates new workflow states into Jira to better handle the processing of VERA records. The new update minimizes the amount of VERA states interacting with non-VERA statuses by funneling activity through the new Pending VERA Action status.

The newly supported transitions are:

• VERA Approval Route Started
• VERA Approval Route Cancelled
• VERA Record Revised
• VERA Processing Error

The Jira Server Plugin and Jira Cloud app handles the intermediate states named:

• Pending VERA Action
• VERA Error

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Navigate to the Jira Administration Settings > Issues > Workflows
2. Click on the Edit button on the appropriate workflow

3. Add the following VERA statuses as new steps:

   Step	Linked Status
   Routing for Approval	Routing for Approval
   Pending VERA Action	Pending VERA Action
   VERA Error	VERA Error
   Approved	Approved
   Rejected	Rejected

4. Add the following property keys for ALL statuses except the first workflow status (e.g. To-Do, New, etc):

   1. Workflows that leverage VERA functionality need to have the delete, move, and clone actions disabled for each workflow state other than the first workflow state.
      1. The default permission scheme in Jira provides administrators the ability to use the delete and move actions in all workflow states. To allow non-administrator users these abilities, grant the permission to the preferred users in Issues > Permission Schemes.

   2. The value "Tx3 VERA Workflow Lock" is not a real username and can be replaced with any fictitious value. The intent of this configuration is to restrict these actions to a fictitious user, ensuring that no actual user will be able to perform them.

      Property Key	Property Value *
      jira.permission.delete.user	Tx3 VERA Workflow Lock
      jira.permission.move.user	Tx3 VERA Workflow Lock
      jira.permission.createclone.user	Tx3 VERA Workflow Lock

5. Add the following property key to all VERA statuses (Routing for Approval, Pending VERA Action, VERA Error, Approved, Rejected):

   1. VERA workflow states must be locked to prevent anyone other than the VERA service account from performing editing actions in VERA states.

   2. Fill in the appropriate VERA service account's username in the property value below.

      Property Key	Property Value *
      jira.permission.edit.user	<username of VERA service account>

      .

6. Create transitions for the VERA statuses

   1. All VERA statuses must be named according to the chart below and cannot be changed. The transitions between each status, however, are flexible and does not have to follow any naming convention.

   2. All transitions listed are required except the Revise transition.

      Transition From	Example Transition Name	Transition To	Purpose of the Transition
      <Previous non-VERA status>	Start Approval(s)	Pending VERA Action	Trigger the VERA Approval Route
      Pending VERA Action	VERA Approval Route Started	Routing for Approval	VERA System locks the record for processing the route for approval
      Pending VERA Action	VERA Approval Route Cancelled	In Progress	VERA System locks the record for processing the cancellation of the approval route
      Pending VERA Action	VERA Record Revised	In Progress	VERA System locks the record for processing the revision of the approval route
      Pending VERA Action	VERA Processing Error	VERA Error	VERA System encountered an error when routing for approval
      Routing for Approval	Complete Approval	Approved	Required for VERA service account to transition record to Approved when all approvers have signed the record
      Routing for Approval	Complete Rejection	Rejected	Required for VERA service account to transition record to Rejected if the issue has been rejected
      Routing for Approval	Withdraw Approval(s)	Pending VERA Action	Allows Jira Admins to roll back the Jira issue if the VERA Approval Route fails
      Rejected	Withdraw Approval(s)	Pending VERA Action	Allows users to withdraw and edit the rejected record
      Approved	Revise	Pending VERA Action	(Optional) Allows users to revise and rework the previously approved record
      VERA Error	VERA Approval Route Started	Routing for Approval	VERA System locks the record for processing the route for approval if a VERA Error occurs
      VERA Error	VERA Approval Route Cancelled	In Progress	VERA System locks the record for processing the cancellation of the approval route if a VERA Error occurs
      VERA Error	VERA Record Revised	In Progress	VERA System locks the record for processing the revision of the approval route if a VERA Error occurs

7.  For each VERA transition, add the appropriate options:

   1. Webhooks must be added to the appropriate transitions to trigger approval route activities in VERA. 
      1. After adding the webhook as a post function, move the webhook transition to be the last post function. 
   2. Conditions must be added to the appropriate transitions so that only the VERA service account will have permissions to execute these transitions.

      Transition Name	Option	Option Name	Option Parameter
      Start Approval(s)	Post Function	Trigger a Webhook	Start VERA Approval Route
      Withdraw Approval(s)	Post Function	Trigger a Webhook	Cancel VERA Approval Route
      Revise	Post Function	Trigger a Webhook	Revise VERA Record
      VERA Approval Route Started	Condition	User Is In Project Role	Tx3 VERA System
      VERA Approval Route Cancelled	Condition	User Is In Project Role	Tx3 VERA System
      VERA Record Revised	Condition	User Is In Project Role	Tx3 VERA System
      VERA Processing Error	Condition	User Is In Project Role	Tx3 VERA System
      Complete Approval	Condition	User Is In Project Role	Tx3 VERA System
      Complete Rejection	Condition	User Is In Project Role	Tx3 VERA System

8. Click Publish Draft to save the newly VERA integrated workflow

Example Jira workflow that has been integrated with VERA's new intermediate statuses.

Example Jira workflow that has been integrated with VERA's default statuses.