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Setting up Data Synchronization

This section outlines the general data synchronization configuration to use any of the supported bug trackers with SpiraTest, SpiraPlan or SpiraTeam (hereafter referred to as Spira).

► Please read this section first, before performing the configuration steps specific to your bug-tracker.

The built-in data-synchronization service that comes with Spira, allows the quality assurance team to manage their requirements and test cases in Spira, execute their test runs, and then have the new defects/bugs generated during the run be automatically loaded into an external bug-tracker. Once the incidents are loaded into the external bug-tracker, the development team can then manage the lifecycle of these defects/bugs in their chosen tool, and have the status changes be reflected back in Spira.

In addition, any issues logged directly into the external bug-tracker will get imported into Spira as either new incidents or new requirements (depending on their type) so that they can be used as part of the planning and testing lifecycle.

There are three possible deployment options for the Spira data synchronization:

  1. You have both Spira and the External Bug Tracker cloud-hosted
  2. You have Spira installed on-premise (External Bug Tracker can be either)
  3. You have Spira cloud-hosted, but the External Bug Tracker installed on-premise

We shall provide the configuration steps for each option:

Spira & External Tool Cloud Hosted

Using the Customer Area to Manage the Spira DataSync

The "Spira DataSync" is a cloud based data synchronization tool that can be used to synchronize your cloud Spira to a number of cloud hosted external tools. Configuration is minimal and is managed from the Customer Area of your Inflectra account.

The Customer Area is your organization's dedicated portal on the Inflectra website for managing your account and subscriptions with us. It is used for:

  • making purchases
  • changing contact information
  • changing subscriptions
  • configuring addons like the "Spira DataSync", TaraVault, or Rapise floating licenses

Access to the Customer Area is restricted to only a couple of people in each organization. This is to ensure that only select authorized people are able to manage and make payments on their account.

If you do not have access to your organization's customer area, and you wish to edit or manage the "Spira DataSync" you will need to contact the owner of the Inflectra account in your organization. They will be able to assist you in configuring any settings as required.

When you sign up for Spira for a cloud-hosted trial, you can add on the Spira DataSync service to the trial for free. NOTE: the DataSync service is only free during the free trial period - there is a nominal charge for the service once you start your subscription.

Make sure to include the 'Spira DataSync' add-on with your trial.

If you did not include the Spira DataSync with your trial, you can add one at any time once your subscription starts. Go to the customer area; find the "My Cloud Subscriptions" section and click "Customize" next to the subscription you want to add the Spira DataSync to:

Once your trial (or subscription) is provisioned, you will be able to configure the connection to Spira by going to your secure Customer Area on our website. Click on the 'Configure' button associated with the Spira-DataSync addon row:

Enter a login and password that can connect to your Spira instance. This user, for all of the product(s) that will be synchronize with the external bug-tracker, needs to:

  • be a product admin
  • have Incident create/modify/view permissions
  • have Release create/modify/view permissions
  • may require additional permissions for other artifacts, depending on how the sync is set up (for instance requirements, documents, or tasks)

Click on the 'Test' button to verify the credentials, and once they validate, make sure the 'Active' flag is checked and then click 'Save'. You have now configured the synchronization.

Now navigate to your Spira instance. Go to System Administration > Integration > Data Sychronization to see a list of the plugins currently configured (as in the example below):

If you click on any of the 'Manage' buttons you will be taken to your Spira instance where you can complete the plugin configuration:

The steps for configuring each plugin are specific to each external bug-tracking tool. Please refer to the appropriate section in this document for the tool you are using.

Spira Installed On-Premise

With Spira installed on-premise, there is a built-in Windows® service that is installed with Spira that is not running by default, but is available for data-synchronization.

The steps that need to be performed to configure integration are as follows:

  • Download appropriate plug-in for Spira from our website
  • Configure the DataSync Service
  • Start the service and proceed to the plugin specific section of this manual

Download the Data-Sync Plug-In

Go to the Inflectra website and open up the page that lists the various downloads available for Spira (http://www.inflectra.com/SpiraTeam/Downloads.aspx). Listed on this page will be the data-synchronization plug-In for your desired bug-tracking tool. Right-click on this link and save the Zip compressed folder to the hard-drive of the server where Spira is installed.

Open up the compressed folder and extract the DLL assembly files and place them in the C:\\Program Files (x86)\\SpiraTeam\\DataSync folder (it may be SpiraTest or SpiraPlan depending on which product you're running). This folder should already contain the DataSyncService.exe and DataSyncService.exe.config files that are the primary files used for managing the data synchronization between Spira and other systems.

Configuring the Synchronization Service

To configure the integration service, please open up the DataSyncService.exe.config file located in C:\\Program Files (x86)\\SpiraTeam\\DataSync with a text editor such as Notepad. Once open, it should look like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
    <configSections>
  <sectionGroup name="applicationSettings" type="System.Configuration.ApplicationSettingsGroup, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" >
   <section name="Inflectra.SpiraTest.DataSyncService.Properties.Settings" type="System.Configuration.ClientSettingsSection, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" requirePermission="false" />
  </sectionGroup>
 </configSections>
 <applicationSettings>
  <Inflectra.SpiraTest.DataSyncService.Properties.Settings>
   <setting name="PollingInterval" serializeAs="String">
    <value>600000</value>
   </setting>
   <setting name="WebServiceUrl" serializeAs="String">
    <value>http://localhost/SpiraTeam</value>
   </setting>
   <setting name="Login" serializeAs="String">
    <value>fredbloggs</value>
   </setting>
   <setting name="Password" serializeAs="String">
    <value>fredbloggs</value>
   </setting>
   <setting name="EventLogSource" serializeAs="String">
    <value>SpiraTeam Data Sync Service</value>
   </setting>
   <setting name="TraceLogging" serializeAs="String">
    <value>False</value>
   </setting>
  </Inflectra.SpiraTest.DataSyncService.Properties.Settings>
 </applicationSettings>
</configuration>

The sections that need to be verified and possibly changed are the values for the following 4 setting XML tags above.

  • name="PollingInterval"
  • name="WebServiceUrl"
  • name="Login"
  • name="Password"

For each of these, check the following information:

The polling interval allows you to specify how frequently the data-synchronization service will ask Spira and the external system for new data updates. The value is specified in milliseconds and we recommend a value around 2-5 minutes (i.e. 120,000 - 300,000ms). The larger the number, the longer it will take for data to be synchronized, but the lower the network and server overhead. When you are using a bidirectional synchronization plugin, a shorter value with avoid conflicting changes being made in the system systems.

The base URL to your instance Spira. It is typically of the form http://<server name>/SpiraTeam. Make sure that when you enter this URL on a browser on the server itself, the application login page appears.

A valid login name and password to your instance of Spira. This user, for all of the product(s) that will be synchronize with the external bug-tracker, needs to:

  • be a product admin
  • have Incident create/modify/view permissions
  • have Release create/modify/view permissions
  • may require additional permissions for other artifacts, depending on how the sync is set up (for instance requirements, documents, or tasks)

Once you have made these changes, please refer to the section in this document that covers the specific bug-tracking tool you will be integrating with.

Note: If you are using the MS-TFS plugin on premise, you will also need to switch over your IIS application pool running Spira to "Enable 32-bit Applications. You will also need to download the recompiled 32-bit version of the DataSyncService.exe application from our support knowledge base - KB14 - Using SpiraTeam Data Synchronization with TFS on a 64-bit system.

Starting the Data-Synchronization Service

When Spira is installed, a Windows Service -- SpiraTeam Data Sync Service -- is installed along with the web application. However to avoid wasting system resources, this service is initially set to run manually. To ensure continued synchronization of SpiraTeam with the external tool, we recommend starting the service and setting its startup-type to Automatic.

To make these changes, open up the Windows Control Panel, click on the "Administrative Tools" link, and then choose the Services option. This will bring up the Windows Service control panel:

Click on the 'SpiraTeam Data Sync Service' entry and click on the link to start the service. Then right-click the service entry and choose the option to set the startup type to 'Automatic'. This will ensure that synchronization continues after a reboot of the server.

Spira Cloud Hosted, External Tool On-Premise

The Desktop Data Synchronization utility (hereafter referred to as the "Desktop DataSync") is a standalone utility than can be used to run the various Data Synchronization PlugIns without a server installation of Spira.

This is useful where you have your SpiraTeam instance cloud hosted, but the external tool is locally installed behind your firewall.

Installation

To obtain the Desktop DataSync, go to the Inflectra website and under the "Downloads and Add-Ons" section you will find a Windows Installation (MSI) package that will install the Desktop DataSync onto your computer. The installer will install both a 64-bit version of the Desktop Data Sync and a 32-bit version. You should use the 64-bit version for all plugins except the Microsoft TFS plugin which will require the 32-bit version.

Next you need to download the appropriate plug-in(s) for the various bug-trackers (as described in the appropriate section of this document) and place the assemblies (DLL files) into the same folder that contains the DesktopDataSync.exe application:

Usage

Once you have downloaded and installed the application and appropriate plug-ins, go to Start > Programs > Inflectra > Desktop DataSync to launch the application.

This will bring up the main options window of the application:

You should then enter the URL, login and password to your Spira installation and click [Test]. Assuming that this information is correct, you will see a confirmation message:

Now you should complete the configuation by setting the Polling Interval (how often the utility will synchronize data between Spira and the external system) and whether Trace Logging is enabled (useful when verifying your data mapping, but will fill up the application log, so leave unchecked for production use). Then click the [Update] button to save your settings or [Start] to save your settings and start synchronization immediately.

Once the Options window closes, the application will remain active in the system tray of your computer:

You can then use the right-click context menu to start synchronization, stop synchronization, view the status (if synchronization is running) or exit the application altogether.

During synchronization, any errors will be logged to the Windows Application Event Log and you can use those logs to diagnose any issues connecting to the external bug-tracker or any data mapping configuration changes that need to be made.