GitLab 18.x Cloud has official integrations and updated guides for all three Atlassian use cases: Jira, Confluence, and Bitbucket migration.
Here’s the revised, accurate, GitLab 18.x–compliant guide:
✅ 1. GitLab ↔️ Jira Integration (Official Support)
GitLab 18 fully supports two levels of Jira integration:
🔹 a. Basic (Free Tier)
- Allows commit → issue linking via
JIRA-123
tags in commit messages. - Uses personal access token or API token.
🔹 b. Deep (Premium+)
- Supports cross-linking MRs ↔ Jira issues
- Enables automation: Jira transitions, MR closing on Jira status, etc.
✅ Steps:
- Go to:
Group → Settings → Integrations → Jira
- Fill in:
- URL:
https://your-domain.atlassian.net
- Username: Jira email
- API Token: Generate from id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security
- URL:
- Test connection and Save.
- Add this to commits:
git commit -m "Fixes JIRA-123: description"
🔗 GitLab auto-links commits to Jira issues and shows them in the Jira issue timeline.
✅ 2. GitLab ↔️ Confluence Integration
As of GitLab 18, official native integration with Confluence is limited, but two workable options exist:
🔹 Option 1: Embed GitLab Content in Confluence
Use Confluence macros to embed:
- Markdown from GitLab repos (via public/raw URL)
- CI/CD status badges
- GitLab Pages links
🔹 Option 2: Confluence → GitLab Webhook Integration (Automation)
- Use GitLab Webhooks to notify Confluence or automation tools (Zapier, ScriptRunner)
- Or use API automation to pull GitLab issues/MR data into Confluence pages.
🚀 Coming Soon:
GitLab is working on tighter Atlassian integration via Open DevOps API connectors, but Confluence integration remains workaround-based as of now.
✅ 3. Migrate from Bitbucket to GitLab (Official Tooling)
🔹 Supported Bitbucket Platforms:
- Bitbucket Cloud ✅
- Bitbucket Server (Data Center) ✅
✅ Migration Steps:
- Go to:
Group → New Project → Import → Bitbucket
- Authenticate using Bitbucket OAuth or App Password
- GitLab auto-discovers repos → you can import:
- Git history
- Issues and wikis (via API)
- Pull requests (limited)
- Use gitlab.com/migrate/bitbucket for setup guides.
🛠️ CLI Migration Alternative:
Use Git:
git clone --mirror https://bitbucket.org/your/repo.git
cd repo.git
git remote add gitlab https://gitlab.com/your/repo.git
git push --mirror gitlab
Code language: PHP (php)
🎯 Summary Table (GitLab 18.x)
Task | GitLab Support | Notes |
---|---|---|
✅ Jira Issue Linking | ✅ Native | All tiers |
✅ Jira Status Sync | ✅ Premium+ | MR ↔ Jira issue |
🟡 Confluence Integration | 🟡 Indirect | Via embeds / webhooks |
✅ Bitbucket Migration | ✅ Native UI | Cloud & Server |
Gitlab Sub-group & Jira Mapping
in GitLab 18.x Cloud, it is possible to implement Sub-group Jira Mapping and related features, including hierarchical project structures, cross-project issue linking, and automated synchronization with Jira — with some configuration and depending on the GitLab tier (mostly Premium+).
Let’s go through your points with accurate, up-to-date capabilities:
✅ 1. Configure Hierarchical Project Structure Mapping
🔹 What You Can Do in GitLab 18.x:
- GitLab allows full group and sub-group nesting (e.g.,
org/dev/backend-service
). - You can assign Jira integration at the group, subgroup, or project level.
🔧 How to Set Up:
- Go to the top-level group or specific subgroup:
Group → Settings → Integrations → Jira
- Enter:
- Jira URL (e.g.,
https://yourcompany.atlassian.net
) - Email/API token
- Jira URL (e.g.,
- This applies to all projects under that group, including subgroups.
- You can override Jira settings at the project level if needed.
✅ Best Practice:
- Use shared integration at the group level to simplify and enforce consistency across projects.
✅ 2. Implement Cross-Project Issue Relationships (GitLab ↔ Jira)
🔹 GitLab Capabilities:
- GitLab 18.x supports cross-project issue linking using
blocks
,relates to
, andcloses
keywords:
Closes gitlab-org/frontend#42
Relates to gitlab-org/backend#18
Code language: PHP (php)
- These work across projects and subgroups, and show relationships in the GitLab UI.
🔹 Jira Capabilities (via GitLab Integration):
- You can link commits/MRs to Jira issues using
JIRA-123
in:- Commit messages
- Merge Request titles/descriptions
- Jira will automatically show these as dev activity.
❗ Important:
To link GitLab MRs/issues to multiple Jira projects, you need:
- Jira configured to allow cross-project issue keys
- GitLab to support multi-project regex patterns like
PROJ1-\d+|PROJ2-\d+
✅ 3. Set Up Automated Synchronization
GitLab ➝ Jira:
- When GitLab commits mention a Jira issue (e.g.,
JIRA-456
), the following are synced:- Commits
- Merge request details
- Deployment status
- Jira will show this under the “Development” panel in the issue.
Jira ➝ GitLab:
- You can use webhooks in Jira or Jira Automation Rules to:
- Trigger GitLab CI jobs
- Post comments/labels in GitLab issues based on Jira status changes
🧠 Example Jira Automation Rule:
When a Jira issue is transitioned to “Ready for QA”, trigger GitLab pipeline:
Trigger: Issue transitioned
Condition: Status = Ready for QA
Action: Send webhook → GitLab Trigger URL with pipeline token
Code language: HTTP (http)
✅ Summary Table (GitLab 18.x Cloud)
Feature | Supported in GitLab 18.x | Notes |
---|---|---|
Sub-group Jira integration | ✅ Yes | Can inherit from top-level group |
Cross-project issue linking | ✅ Yes | Native support with relates to , etc. |
Jira to GitLab dev sync | ✅ Yes | Via official Jira integration |
GitLab to Jira webhook + auto-close issues | ✅ Yes | With API + JIRA-123 references |
Multi-project Jira key recognition | ✅ Yes | Requires regex pattern config |
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