How to integrate Metabase with Jira Service Desk Data

Metabase is an open source data visualization tool that allows users to create interactive dashboards. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, users can easily create visualizations and dashboards linked to live Jira Service Desk data. This article describes how to connect to Jira Service Desk and build a simple visualization using Jira Service Desk data.

CData Connect provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Jira Service Desk, allowing you to easily integrate with live Jira Service Desk data in Metabase — without replicating the data. Connect looks exactly like a SQL Server database to Metabase and uses optimized data processing out of the box to push all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Jira Service Desk, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Jira Service Desk data.

Configure Jira Service Desk Connectivity for Metabase

Connectivity to Jira Service Desk from Metabase is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Jira Service Desk data from Metabase, we start by creating and configuring a Jira Service Desk connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Jira Service Desk" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Jira Service Desk.

   You can establish a connection to any Jira Service Desk Cloud account or Server instance.

   Connecting with a Cloud Account

   To connect to a Cloud account, you'll first need to retrieve an APIToken. To generate one, log in to your Atlassian account and navigate to API tokens > Create API token. The generated token will be displayed.

   Supply the following to connect to data:

   • User: Set this to the username of the authenticating user.
   • APIToken: Set this to the API token found previously.

   Connecting with a Service Account

   To authenticate with a service account, you will need to supply the following connection properties:

   • User: Set this to the username of the authenticating user.
   • Password: Set this to the password of the authenticating user.
   • URL: Set this to the URL associated with your JIRA Service Desk endpoint. For example, https://yoursitename.atlassian.net.

   Note: Password has been deprecated for connecting to a Cloud Account and is now used only to connect to a Server Instance.

   Accessing Custom Fields

   By default, the connector only surfaces system fields. To access the custom fields for Issues, set IncludeCustomFields.

4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Jira Service Desk Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Jira Service Desk data from Metabase.

Connect to CData Connect from Metabase

After creating the virtual database, navigate to your Metabase instance. Use the SQL Server interface to connect to Connect Cloud.

1. Navigate to the administration screen (Settings -> Admin) and click "Add Database" from the "Databases" tab
2. Configure the connection to Connect Cloud and click "Save"
   • Database type: Select "SQL Server"
   • Name: Name the connection (e.g. "Jira Service Desk (Connect Cloud)")
   • Host: tds.cdata.com
   • Port: 14333
   • Database name: The name of the connection you just created (e.g. JiraServiceDesk1)
   • Username: A Connect Cloud username (e.g. user@mydomain.com)
   • Password: The PAT for the above Connect Cloud user
   • Click to Use a secure connection (SSL)

Execute Jira Service Desk Data with Metabase

Once you configure the connection to Connect Cloud, you can query Jira Service Desk and build visualizations.

1. Use the "Write SQL" tool to retrieve the Jira Service Desk data
2. Write a SQL query based on the Jira Service Desk connection in CData Connect Cloud, e.g.
   
   

   SELECT RequestId, ReporterName FROM Requests WHERE CurrentStatus = 'Open'

3. Navigate to the "Visualization" screen, choose a visualization, and configure the visualization

More Information & Free Trial

At this point, you have built a simple visualization from Jira Service Desk data in Metabase. You can continue to work with live Jira Service Desk data in Metabase just like you would any SQL Server database. For more information on creating a live connection to Jira Service Desk (and more than 100 other data sources), visit the Connect Cloud page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live Jira Service Desk data in Metabase today.