What data can Elements Connect store/access?

Migrating from Element Connect Server or Data Center may lead you to wonder about data egress in Elements Connect Cloud.

Here are some information about what we can store and/or access from your data.

What is data egress?

Data egress refers to the transfer of data from your environment to an external system, such as Elements servers. This can include two type of data egress:

Data Egress - Storage: this involves some of your data is stored on Elements databases (located in an AWS Data Center in North Virginia, USA).
Data Egress - Compute: this refers to data generated and processed during runtime tasks that need to be transferred out. In this case, Elements Connect temporary accessed data, and does not store it on our servers.

Data Egress - Storage

Several configurations and data elements are stored to ensure the proper functioning of your custom fields and connected items. These include:

Data Source Configuration

Contains authentication data required to connect to external data sources.
👉 Data sources details are encrypted, read How are datasources connection details stored?

Custom Field Configuration & Connected Item Configuration

Details the settings for custom fields and connected items created within Elements Connect.

Mapping Between Connected items and Issue Types

Stores how connected items are associated with various Jira issue types (through IDs only).

Example

CODE

"runtimeMappings" : [
    {
      "projectId" : "10001",
      "runtimeMappingByTicketType" : [
        {
          "issueTypeId" : "2",
          "connectedItemExportModels" : [
            {
              "connectedItemId" : "10035",
              "hidden" : false
            },
            {
              "connectedItemId" : "10036",
              "hidden" : false
            },
            {
              "connectedItemId" : "10038",
              "hidden" : false
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]

To view detailed information on the configuration data stored, you can access it through the support export file. Note that while the configurations are visible, actual values are not exposed in this file.

All data mentioned here is stored on Elements servers. Where?

Our database is located in an AWS Data Center in North Virginia, USA. This allow us to prevent any data alteration that could potentially happen in case of malicious use, if the data was instead stored in the entity properties in Jira.

We know that for some companies data residency is an important topic when choosing an app and we're working hand-in-hand with Atlassian to provide this option to our customers in the mid-term future.

Connected Items Values

Stores the values retrieved and displayed by the connected items.
For Custom Fields, no values are stored on Connect servers.

Authentication Data Retrieved from Jira

Includes client key and license information necessary for authentication and integration with Jira.

Cached data

Connected Items and Custom Fields options can be cached for performance reasons.
By default, cache is set on 5 min on datasource, and can be updated on datasource and field level.

Data Egress - Compute

During the computation process, Connect access temporary some additional data (not stored on our servers, but on Atlassian’s).

Custom Fields Dependencies Values

As we do not store custom fields values, we need to retrieve it temporary from Atlassian’s server in order to calculate child fields. Those values are required for the computation and recalculation of custom fields based on dependencies.

For snapshot custom fields: we retrieve only the value ("template")

For object custom fields: we retrieve both the id ("keyTemplate") and the value ("template")

Example

Let’s say you have 2 Connected Fields, based on Jira’s API:

“Atlassian project”: single-select Connected Item.
“Project picker” : single-select Custom Field, type object.
Id attribute is the project id and template is the project key.

Here is what will be stored and/or accessed by Elements Connect:

Data	Description	Storage Location	Compute Location	Data details	Storage duration
Datasource configuration	Information required to connect to the datasources configured in Elements Connect	Elements Server (data are stored encrypted)	Elements Server	JSON `{ "category" : "REST_API", "name" : "Atlassian's Jira (JAC)", "description" : "Atlassian's Jira (JAC)", "datasourceId" : 1111111, "apiDocumentationUrl" : "***", "apiBaseUrl" : "*", "apiTestUrl" : "*", "authenticationMode" : "API_KEY", "apiKeyAuthSendInMode" : "HEADER", "apiKeyHeaderName" : "**", "customHeaders" : [ { "name" : "**", "value" : "****" } },`	Until the datasource is deleted + 30 days (backup retained for 30 days)
Connected items configuration	Settings for connected items created within Elements Connect.	Elements Server	Elements Server	JSON { "id" : 1000001, "itemId" : "10001", "source" : "CONNECTED_ITEM", "connectedItemName" : "Atlassian Project", "mirrorFieldId" : "customfield_10001", "mirrorFieldName" : "Atlassian Project", "category" : "REST_API", "datasourceId" : 1111111, "type" : "SELECT", "template" : "${row.name}", "method" : "GET", "path" : "/project", "dependenciesResult" : { "itemDependencies" : [ ], "customFieldsDependencies" : [ ], "userDependencies" : [ ], "reporterDependencies" : [ ], "projectDependencies" : [ ], "issueTypeDependencies" : [ ], "requestTypeDependencies" : [ ], "hasUserInputDependency" : false, "errorMessage" : null, "errorType" : null },	…
Connected items values	Values defined in connected items fields.	Elements Server	Elements Server	JSON `{ "id" : 1111111, "itemId" : "10001", "template" : "DEMO", }`
Custom fields configurations	Settings for custom fields created within Elements Connect.	Elements Server	Elements Server	JSON { "id" : 4150665, "itemId" : "10019", "customFieldId" : "customfield_10071", "source" : "CUSTOM_FIELD", "connectedItemName" : "Project Picker", "mirrorFieldId" : "", "category" : "REST_API", "datasourceId" : 1111111, "type" : "SELECT", "keyTemplate" : "${row.id}", "template" : "${row.key}", "method" : "GET", "path" : "/project", "postBody" : "", "rootElement" : "", "livePath" : "", "customFieldType" : "OBJECT", "isCustomFieldLive" : false, "dependenciesResult" : { "itemDependencies" : [ ], "customFieldsDependencies" : [ ], "userDependencies" : [ ], "reporterDependencies" : [ ], "projectDependencies" : [ ], "issueTypeDependencies" : [ ], "requestTypeDependencies" : [ ], "hasUserInputDependency" : false, "errorMessage" : null, "errorType" : null }
Custom fields values	Values defined in custom fields.	Atlassian’s Server	Elements Server	JSON `{ "id" : 4150665, "itemId" : "10019", "keyTemplate" : "10000", "template" : "DEMO", }`
Response from datasources	All options available for a connected item or a custom field	Elements Server	Elements Server	JSON [ { "expand": "description,lead,issueTypes,url,projectKeys,permissions,insight", "self": "https://jira.atlassian.net/rest/api/2/project/10000", "id": "10000", "key": "DEMO", "name": "Elements Connect Demo", "avatarUrls": { "48x48": "https://jira.atlassian.net/rest/api/2/universal_avatar/view/type/project/avatar/10404", "24x24": "https://jira.atlassian.net/rest/api/2/universal_avatar/view/type/project/avatar/10404?size=small", "16x16": "https://jira.atlassian.net/rest/api/2/universal_avatar/view/type/project/avatar/10404?size=xsmall", "32x32": "https://jira.atlassian.net/rest/api/2/universal_avatar/view/type/project/avatar/10404?size=medium" }, "projectTypeKey": "software", "simplified": true, "style": "next-gen", "isPrivate": false, "properties": {}, "entityId": "b38ff8b0-1852-476d-8967-ac1d522e0f2c", "uuid": "b38ff8b0-1852-476d-8967-ac1d522e0f2c" }, { "expand": "description,lead,issueTypes,url,projectKeys,permissions,insight", "self": "https://elements-mathilde.atlassian.net/rest/api/2/project/10002", "id": "10002", "key": "SALES", "name": "Sales Team project", "avatarUrls": { "48x48": "https://jira.atlassian.net/rest/api/2/universal_avatar/view/type/project/avatar/10422", "24x24": "https://jira.atlassian.net/rest/api/2/universal_avatar/view/type/project/avatar/10422?size=small", "16x16": "https://jira.atlassian.net/rest/api/2/universal_avatar/view/type/project/avatar/10422?size=xsmall", "32x32": "https://jira.atlassian.net/rest/api/2/universal_avatar/view/type/project/avatar/10422?size=medium" }, "projectTypeKey": "business", "simplified": true, "style": "next-gen", "isPrivate": false, "properties": {}, "entityId": "13a7b59a-0488-4ce1-9fca-30fdccbfeca2", "uuid": "13a7b59a-0488-4ce1-9fca-30fdccbfeca2" },	Cache duration as configured in Elements Connect configuration (5 min by default)
Runtime mappings	Association of connected items within a Jira project based on specific issue types			JSON `"runtimeMappings" : [ { "projectId" : "10001", "runtimeMappingByTicketType" : [ { "issueTypeId" : "2", "connectedItemExportModels" : [ { "connectedItemId" : "10001", "hidden" : false } ] } ] } ]`
Jira authentication data	Specific client information to establish a secure connection and access the necessary data			CODE `"clientKey" : "example-client-key", "hostBaseUrl" : "https://jira.atlassian.net",`

Additional questions

Why does Elements Connect need an external data center in addition to the forge storage?

Elements Connect uses two different frameworks given by Atlassian: Atlassian Forge and Atlassian Connect. Each framework has its own approach to data storage and processing. Atlassian Connect involves the usage of Elements' private servers, but unlock many use cases on the application, such as using Connected Items on Jira Service Management.

What is the AWS data center?

The AWS data center in West Virginia is part of the extensive AWS global infrastructure designed to provide high availability, fault tolerance, and security for cloud services. All data mentioned in “Data egress storage” is stored on our AWS data center.