Synchronize GitHub Code Scanning alerts to Jira issues

GitHub's REST API and webhooks give customers the option of exporting alerts to any issue tracker, by allowing users to fetch the data via API endpoints and/or by receiving webhook POST requests to a hosted server.

This repository

This repository gives a quick illustrative example of how to integrate GitHub Code Scanning with Jira. The code is intended as a proof-of-concept, showing the basic operations necessary to handle incoming requests from GitHub. Please feel free to use this as a starting point for your own integration.

Using the GitHub Action

The easiest way to use this tool is via its GitHub Action, which you can add to your workflows. Here is what you need before you can start:

• A GitHub repository with Code Scanning enabled and a few alerts. Follow this guide to set up Code Scanning.
• The URL of your Jira Server instance.
• A Jira project to store your issues. You will need to provide its project key to the action.
• A Jira Server account (username + password) with the following permissions for the abovementioned project:
  • Browse Projects
  • Close Issues
  • Create Issues
  • Delete Issues
  • Edit Issues
  • Transition Issues
• Depending on where you run your workflow, the Jira Server instance must be accessible from either the GitHub.com IP addresses or the address of your GitHub Enterprise Server instance.

Make sure you safely store all credentials as GitHub Secrets. For accessing the Code Scanning alert data, the action uses the GITHUB_TOKEN which is automatically created for you, so you don't need to provide it. Finally, set up the following workflow in your repository, e.g. by adding the file .github/workflows/jira-sync.yml:

name: "Sync GHAS to Jira"

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '*/10 * * * *'    # trigger synchronization every 10 minutes

jobs:
  test_job:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Sync alerts to Jira issues
        uses: github/ghas-jira-integration@v1
        with:
          jira_url: '<INSERT JIRA SERVER URL>'
          jira_user: '${{ secrets.JIRA_USER }}'
          jira_token: '${{ secrets.JIRA_TOKEN }}'
          jira_project: '<INSERT JIRA PROJECT KEY>'
          sync_direction: 'gh2jira'

This action will push any changes (new alerts, alerts deleted, alert states changed) to Jira, by creating, deleting or changing the state of the corresponding Jira issues. There are two sync directions for the field sync_direction:

• gh2jira
• jira2gh

Using gh2jira means the alerts will sync from GitHub to Jira. If you set sync_direction to jira2gh, it will synchronize the other way. Currently, two-way integration is not yet possible via the action. If you need it, use the CLI's serve command (see below).

Using this Action to synchronize secret scanning alerts

Secret scanning alerts can only be queried with the API in private repositories. For public repositories, there will just be an empty results list. You'll need to pass in a PAT via github_token that has admin rights to access secret scanning alerts. Ensure the PAT has the security_events scope:

        with:
          jira_url: '<INSERT JIRA SERVER URL>'
          jira_user: '${{ secrets.JIRA_USER }}'
          jira_token: '${{ secrets.JIRA_TOKEN }}'
          jira_project: '<INSERT JIRA PROJECT KEY>'
          github_token: '${{ secrets.PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN }}'
          sync_direction: 'gh2jira'

Other optional features for this Action

Labels

You can also create labels for the Jira issues that are created. By using the example yaml below in your workflow, you can use multiple labels, and spaces will be respected. For example, if you add red-team, blue team, the labels would be created 'red-team' and 'blue team'. If this input is updated in the workflow, the existing JIRE issues will also be updated with the same labels.

with:
  jira_labels: 'red-team,blue-team,green-team'

Custom transition states (end, reopen)

You can customize the end and reopen states if your Jira workflows don't use the default close/reopen states.

with:
  issue_end_state: 'Closed'
  issue_reopen_state: 'red-team-followup'

Using the CLI's sync command

Installation

The easiest way to get the CLI running is with pipenv:

pipenv install
pipenv run ./gh2jira --help

Note: gh2jira requires a minimum of python3.5.

In addition to the usual requirements you also need:

• the URL for the GitHub API, which is
  • https://api.github.com if your repository is located on GitHub.com
  • https://your-hostname/api/v3/ if your repository is located on a GitHub Server instance
• a GitHub personal access token, so that the program can fetch alerts from your repository. Follow this guide to obtain a dedicated token. It will have to have at least the security_events scope and muist have admin rights to access secret scanning alerts.

pipenv run ./gh2jira sync \
                 --gh-url "<INSERT GITHUB API URL>" \
                 --gh-token "<INSERT GITHUB PERSONAL ACCESS TOKEN>" \
                 --gh-org "<INSERT REPO ORGANIZATON>" \
                 --gh-repo "<INSERT REPO NAME>" \
                 --jira-url "<INSERT JIRA SERVER INSTANCE URL>" \
                 --jira-user "<INSERT JIRA USER>" \
                 --jira-token "<INSERT JIRA PASSWORD>" \
                 --jira-project "<INSERT JIRA PROJECT KEY>" \
                 --direction gh2jira

Note: Instead of the --gh-token and --jira-token options, you may also set the GH2JIRA_GH_TOKEN and GH2JIRA_JIRA_TOKEN environment variables. The above command could be invoked via a cronjob every X minutes, to make sure issues and alerts are kept in sync.

Other optional features for the CLI

There is an optional parameter you can use for creating labels in your Jira issues. As previously mentioned, spaces within the double quotes will be respected and saved. Just like the GitHub Actions way, the custom transition states are also optional when using the CLI.

--jira-labels "red-team,blue-team,green-team"
--issue-end-state "Closed"
--issue-reopen-state "blue-team-reopen"

Here's an example for a two-way integration:

pipenv run ./gh2jira sync \
                 --gh-url "<INSERT GITHUB API URL>" \
                 --gh-token "<INSERT GITHUB PERSONAL ACCESS TOKEN>" \
                 --gh-org "<INSERT REPO ORGANIZATON>" \
                 --gh-repo "<INSERT REPO NAME>" \
                 --jira-url "<INSERT JIRA SERVER INSTANCE URL>" \
                 --jira-user "<INSERT JIRA USER>" \
                 --jira-token "<INSERT JIRA PASSWORD>" \
                 --jira-project "<INSERT JIRA PROJECT KEY>" \
                 --state-file myrepository-state.json \
                 --direction both

In this case the repository's state is stored in a JSON file (which will be created if it doesn't already exist). Alternatively, the state can also be stored in a dedicated Jira issue via --state-issue - (this will automatically generate and update a storage issue within the same Jira project). If the storage issue should be in a separate Jira project, you can specify --state-issue KEY-OF-THE-STORAGE-ISSUE.

Other CLI sync options

The serve command

Using the CLI's serve command

The following method is the most involved one, but currently the only one which allows two-way integration (i.e. changes to Code Scanning alerts trigger changes to Jira issues and vice versa). It uses a lightweight Flask server to handle incoming Jira and GitHub webhooks. The server is meant to be an example and not production-ready.

In addition to the usual requirements you also need:

• A machine with an address that can be reached from GitHub.com or your GitHub Enterprise Server instance and your Jira Server instance. This machine will run the server.
• Webhooks set up, both, on GitHub and Jira. On GitHub only repository or organization owners can do so. On Jira, it requires administrator access.
• A secret which will be used to verify webhook requests.

First, create a GitHub webhook with the following event triggers:

• Code scanning alerts
• Repositories

This can be either a repository or an organization-wide hook. Set the Payload URL to https://<the machine>/github, the Content type to application/json and insert your webhook Secret. Make sure to Enable SSL verification.

Second, register a webhook on Jira. Give your webhook a Name and enter the URL: https://<the machine>/jira?secret_token=<INSERT WEBHOOK SECRET>. In the Events section specify All issues and mark the boxes created, updated and deleted. Click Save.

Finally, start the server:

pipenv run ./gh2jira serve \
                 --gh-url "<INSERT GITHUB API URL>" \
                 --gh-token "<INSERT GITHUB PERSONAL ACCESS TOKEN>" \
                 --jira-url "<INSERT JIRA SERVER INSTANCE URL>" \
                 --jira-user "<INSERT JIRA USER>" \
                 --jira-token "<INSERT JIRA PASSWORD>" \
                 --jira-project "<INSERT JIRA PROJECT KEY>" \
                 --secret "<INSERT WEBHOOK SECRET>" \
                 --port 5000 \
                 --direction both

This will enable two-way integration between GitHub and Jira. Note: Instead of the --secret option, you may also set the GH2JIRA_SECRET environment variable.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md

License

Apache V2