KB: Jira Service Management login problems / can't see my service desk
Summary: If you are a University staff member, you should log into Jira using the Microsoft single sign-on option (you will see the Microsoft logo on the login screen) – do not manually create an account. Visitors can create an account manually, but don’t have to do this to use the Cavendish Services Portal forms.
Our Jira Service Management system is intended to support both University staff and visitors. University staff should login using the Microsoft single sign-on option to create a Microsoft University verified account. You should not manually create an account by entering an email address and creating a password.
If you are a visitor you can submit support tickets to us via Cavendish Services Portal forms without creating an account. However, this will not allow you to track tickets easily, or reply to existing tickets using the Portal. You can create a manually verified account using an email address with a password. Please use a unique password (not one you already use for another system).
More detail
We include further details here to explain the underlying cause of potential problems for your interest.
University staff can experience difficulties using Jira – particularly as a service agent – if the Microsoft account login isn’t followed. This is because while Jira is used in Physics, UIS are not able to support us automatically creating Jira accounts for Physics staff, as Jira is used by UIS and some other departments, creating an ‘account association’ issue. Specifically, UIS want to retain ownership of Jira accounts, so that your CRSid@cam email account isn’t 'owned’ by Physics Jira.
Note that the perceived ownership problem is an administrative issue rather than a practical one - you can use your CRSid@cam Microsoft single-sign on to log into multiple Jira Service Desks operated by multiple departments. By logging into any Jira service desk with it, you are a Microsoft University verified account user (this has a significance later).
Two things happen as a result of this inability to automatically verify you. First, we run Jira in a non-verified mode requiring staff to manually create their accounts, and when you first engage with Jira – possibly via an email – a ‘non-verified’ account will be created by Jira with your address as the unique identifier. You haven’t created an account yourself, but this enables Jira to link your ticket messages together.
Secondly, because of the way Jira works, if you later create a verified account using your CRSid@cam email but with a password – a manually verified account if you will - Jira sees this as a different account to the same CRSid@cam email which we authorise to access a service desk as a service agent (should you find yourself in this role), as the account we authorise will be your Microsoft University verified account, not one you manually created using the same address without single-sign on. There are some notional security reasons for this, but the upshot of this is that it leads to confusion when we believe we’ve added you to a service desk as an agent, and you still can’t access it. This is fixed by deleting the manually verified account associated with your CRSid@cam email address, and ensuring that when you log in again, you do so with the Microsoft single sign-on, creating your Microsoft University verified account.