How to Automate ADD/REMOVE Users to Group on a Repeat Schedule

[Albert Salerno]

I am trying to figure out how to add/remove some of my team from a group that is tied to ticket assignments, essentially the "queue" so when they are off shift or coming on early shift they are automatically added and removed to be assigned service requests from our users.

Right now its a manual process and Id like to automate it so it its more consistent with their hours and days worked.

For example, if "Bob" starts at 6AM but leaves everyday at 3PM, Id like him to be added to the "Helpdesk"  group during those hours but removed until the next assigned day he works those hours.

Bob also ONLY works 4 days a week so he would have to be removed and added only 4 days a week.

I started looking in Automation but cant seem to find rules pertaining to users and groups after I setup the Scheduler.

I did find something about using API, but before going down that rabbit hole wanted to see if there was already something easier or built in that I can setup.

Any advice would be a great time saver.

[Kieren _SmolSoftware_ · Accepted solution]

Hi @Albert Salerno 

Easiest option is to use an app like Admin Automations. It’s built specifically for a use case like this. You can specify a particular user to add/remove from groups on a schedule.

Only other alternative is to roll your own scripts using the Atlassian APIs.

Good luck!

[Albert Salerno]

Wow, Thank you Kieren.

I'm gonna see about getting this approved for install.

If its that simple, thats exactly what could potentially solve this minor day to day task issue.

Regards,

Al

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Kieren _SmolSoftware_ 

As a reminder...when recommending a marketplace vendor product, please ensure you disclose your affiliation to that vendor in your post wording, not just in your profile name. For more information about this, please see:

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Kind regards,
Bill

[Kieren _SmolSoftware_]

Thanks for the reminder @Bill Sheboy 👍

[Deniz Oğuz - Starware]

Hi,

You can also use our CLI for Jira app. It is much faster than doing it through the UI and if you want, you can automate the process using cron and shell scripts.

To add a user to a group:

ira group add-user --group=jira-servicemanagement-users-worklogpro --user=557159:af2a835d-85c1-41e3-12c1-3cfae2a2d1be --site=worklogpro

To remove a user from a group:

 ira group remove-user --group=jira-servicemanagement-users-worklogpro --user=557159:af2a835d-85c1-41e3-12c1-3cfae2a2d1be --site=worklogpro

 PS: I work for the vendor of this app.

[Dick]

Hi @Albert Salerno Welcome to the Atlassian Community.

I was reading your question and I couldn't help myself from wondering why you would like to automate the assignment of work items to users in the first place. You're effectively "robbing" your team from their team (and individual) responsibility. 

There is plenty to gain using the agile working framework, both for the team and their manager. I've written a small article about this here on the forums. It's about how you can stimulate your team into being self-organizing and responsible for the effectiveness of their output. 

Kind regards,
Dick

[Albert Salerno]

I understand how that could be viewed as such without context Dick, however this is more about meeting our Service Level Agreement.  If you submitted an IT Helpdesk ticket would you want to wait 4 days while it sat in someones queue who wasn't gonna be back at work until then? I know I wouldn't.

Its not about robbing anyone of responsibility its about serving the base of our end users in a timely fashion and utilizing our team resources efficiently.

For example we have an overnight tech who leaves at 12AM but doesn't arrive until 2AM the next day. No point in having a morning shift support ticket sit for 14 hours when it can be addressed first thing in the morning by a day person.

Our main day shift staff remain in queue 24/7. This automation would be for those who do not work the same hours or days as they do.

Regards,

Al

[Dick]

A team managed, unassigned queue would be my suggestion. Any pre-assigned tickets always run the chance of not being picked-up in a timely fashion. Setting priority to tickets would be possible (even based on time to SLA breach).

Make the team responsible for their choices on how to deal with the ticket load and how their actions reflect in the SLA. Let them learn to be self-organizing (which would mean accept a period of bad SLA figures). Provide them with tools to monitor their performance, giving them feedback towards improvement.

Take time to have a review session with a couple of clients. Take time to evaluate team output in a retrospective. Invest in ways of growing your team into a flexible, self-organizing entity, you won't regret that.

Kind regards,
Dick 

[Marc - Devoteam]

Hi @Albert Salerno 

Welcome to the community.

This is definitely not possible with automation.

You can only remove or add users to a group (if the group is not managed by an SSO integration).

But then the API call is an action, I don't see this working on a schedule.

You also could look at start using teams and add call rotations on teams, then you can specify which user is on call on what day and from what time to what time.

The requires to enable the Incident Management feature on the JSM project.

[Albert Salerno]

Thank you for your response Marc and the welcome!

I will look into this if all other options fail.

-Al