Chapter 1, Getting Started with Jira Data Center, serves as an overall introduction to Jira by going over its high-level architecture. We will cover both new deployments and how to upgrade from an existing deployment. We will also introduce the Jira Data Center offering from Atlassian. This will also serve as the starting point of the project that readers will go through.

Chapter 2, Using Jira for Business Projects, covers using Jira for projects that are not based on software development, for example, a generic task management solution. This chapter focuses on the use of the basic features of Jira, which are offered through the Jira Core product, which is bundled with Jira Software.

Chapter 3, Using Jira for Agile Projects, covers features that are specific to Jira Software. This chapter focuses on using Jira for software development projects, especially using Agile methodologies such as Scrum and Kanban.

Chapter 4, Working with Issues, introduces issues, which are the cornerstone of using Jira. The focus is to make sure users understand issues and what they do. You will also learn how to make each of the features available and customize them beyond the out-of-box settings.

Chapter 5, Field Management, introduces fields, and specifically how to use custom fields to customize Jira for more effective data collection. You will learn how to create new custom fields, and how to control field configurations such as visibility and rendering options.

Chapter 6, Screen Management, introduces screens. You will learn how to create new screens from scratch and specify which fields (system and custom) will be displayed. We will also cover complex scheme mappings to apply new screens to projects.

Chapter 7, Workflow and Business Process, explores the most powerful feature offered by Jira, workflows. The concept of issue life cycles is introduced, and various aspects of workflows are explained. This chapter also explores the relationship between workflows and other various Jira aspects that have been previously covered, such as screens. The concept of Jira apps is also briefly touched upon in the sample project, using some popular apps.

Chapter 8, Emails and Notifications, talks about emails and how Jira can use them to send notifications to end users. We will start by explaining how Jira sends out notifications to users, and then how Jira can process incoming emails to create, comment on, and also update issues.

Chapter 9, Securing Jira, explains Jira’s security model, starting with how to manage users, groups, and roles. Readers will then learn Jira’s security hierarchy of how permissions are managed. Lastly, we will look at setting up single sign-on using SAML, a common requirement with most enterprise organizations.

Chapter 10, Searching, Reporting, and Analysis, focuses on doing more with data collected by Jira, including searching, reporting, and using dashboards. You will also learn how to make this data and reports available outside of Jira, either via email or by displaying them in other applications.

Chapter 11, Jira Service Management, introduces Jira Service Management, which allows you to run Jira as a customer support portal. Readers will learn how to use Jira Service Management to run and manage a support queue internally while at the same time communicating effectively with customers.

Chapter 12, Jira and Third Party Apps, covers using third-party apps to extend the capabilities of Jira. You will learn how to find, install, update, and manage apps for Jira. We will also look at some popular third-party apps and how they can be used to take Jira to the next level.