As your organization grows, so does the effort required to manage user access across Jira and Confluence. Managing a handful of users manually is simple. Managing hundreds isn’t. It’s time-consuming, but more importantly, it’s prone to human errors. The security consequences of assigning the wrong people to groups with access to sensitive data can be severe.
That’s where automated provisioning helps. You simply connect your identity provider (IdP) to Atlassian Cloud via the mO User Sync app and let the system take it from there. It creates users and assigns them to the right groups for you automatically.
In this blog, you’ll learn how to achieve this using the miniOrange User Sync app.
Importance of User and Group Sync
User sync is essential when you manage Atlassian Cloud at scale. Here are four reasons why:
Centralized Identity Management
Instead of managing users separately in your IdP and Atlassian, you control everything from your IdP. It remains your source of truth. This enables centralized identity management in Atlassian and keeps your systems consistent.
Reduce Manual Work and Errors
Manual work usually leads to human errors. At scale, you’ll see issues like missed users, incorrect permissions, or outdated access. Automation removes that risk.
Correct Access
Groups define access in Atlassian. When your groups are synced properly, users automatically get the right permissions without you having to assign them one by one.
Constantly Updated
Updates happen in real time when a user joins, changes roles, or leaves your organization. This also supports automated user deprovisioning in Atlassian, which is critical for security.
Two Approaches to Sync Users and Groups in Atlassian Cloud with miniOrange
The miniOrange User Sync app supports two ways to sync users and groups with Atlassian Cloud:
1. SCIM
SCIM is a standard protocol for user provisioning. Many popular IdPs support it out of the box. If your IdP supports it, you can use it for straightforward user and group sync.
2: REST APIs
Some IdPs support both SCIM and REST APIs, while others have weak SCIM implementation or none at all. For instance, Keycloak and custom-built IdPs. If your environment requires flexibility or custom integration, syncing users/groups from IDP to Atlassian Cloud via REST API is a strong option.
Let’s look at how you can sync users and groups using REST APIs.
Sync IdP Users and Groups to Atlassian Cloud via REST API: Step-by-Step Process
The miniOrange User Sync app for Atlassian Cloud makes REST API-based sync simple. The no-code interface lets you set everything up in minutes.
The app features multiple preconfigured IdPs like Okta, Entra ID, Oracle, GSuite, and more. This makes it easy to get started with Atlassian Okta provisioning, Atlassian Azure provisioning, or other integrations.
1: Preconfigured IdPs
If you use a supported IdP, such as Keycloak, you can set up synchronization quickly using predefined configurations.
Configuration
You start by configuring your IdP connection. Below we have an example of Keycloak IdP. Enter the following details:
- Application Name: A label to identify your configuration
- Keycloak Version: Select the version you are using
- Client ID and Client Secret: Credentials from your IdP
- Domain URL: Your IdP endpoint
- Realm Name: The realm you want to connect to
These details establish a secure connection between your IdP and Atlassian Cloud.
The required details may change depending on your IdP, but the core idea remains the same. It’s about providing the necessary credentials and endpoints so miniOrange can communicate with your directory.
Provisioning Operations
After setting up the connection, configure how you want to manage users and groups.
One key feature here is group mapping. The app provides two options:
On-the-Fly Group Mapping
This creates the groups as is from the IdP and then automatically assigns users to these newly created groups.
For instance, in on-the-fly group mapping, if a group exists, e.g., mO users in the IdP, a group with the same name will be created in Atlassian, and the users will be mapped to this group in Jira automatically.
Manual Group Mapping
Go with this option if you want to customize mapping or if your naming conventions differ. You get full control and can explicitly map IdP groups to specific Atlassian native groups.
Synchronize
Once configured, you can enable automatic synchronization to keep users and groups updated continuously. You can define how often the synchronization runs. This ensures that any changes in your IdP are reflected in Atlassian without manual intervention.
We have comprehensive documentation for all IdPs in the app, which’ll come in handy during your setup.
2: Custom IdPs
If you have a homegrown IdP or any IdP that’s not mentioned in the app, miniOrange can help. Get in touch with our team, and we’ll build a custom IdP Atlassian integration for you.
Why miniOrange
The miniOrange User Sync app for Atlassian Cloud makes it easy to get started.
No-Code Interface
You can set up the entire sync without writing a single line of code. You don’t need to write scripts or manage APIs manually. Just fill in the required fields, toggle the right options, and you’re good to go. This makes it an ideal Atlassian user provisioning app with no coding required.
Directory Sync
Keep your IdP and Atlassian directories in sync. Any change in IdP is reflected in Atlassian, maintaining consistency in both systems with any manual work from your end.
Support for Custom REST APIs
You can integrate with virtually any system that exposes REST endpoints. Just get in touch with our team, and we’ll set things up for you.
Support for Multiple IdPs
miniOrange supports a wide range of identity providers, including Okta, Azure AD, Google Workspace, Oracle, Keycloak, and more. You can choose from preconfigured integrations or connect a custom IdP through REST APIs.
Works With Non-SCIM IdPs
Many user/group sync apps only support SCIM-based IdPs. miniOrange also supports non-SCIM IdPs for user sync in Jira and Confluence, giving you flexibility when SCIM provisioning is not an option.
Conclusion
Automated provisioning keeps user and group sync in Atlassian Cloud simple and up to date.
REST API-based sync gives you the flexibility to work with a wide range of IdPs, including custom systems. With miniOrange, you can set this up quickly and manage everything from a single interface.
If you are looking for a reliable way to sync users and groups from your IdP to Atlassian Cloud via REST API, miniOrange provides a practical and scalable solution.
Explore the User and Group Sync app for Atlassian Cloud today!
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