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Lab 1.1: Jira Setup

Est. Time: 15 minutes

Goals:

  • Create a free Jira account
  • Set up a basic queue for your tickets
  • Explore some of the basics of Jira

Instructions

Note: Jira updates their UI often— Follow the directions are best as you can, but don’t be afraid if things look slightly different.

Note 2: Jira has recently migrated from calling the queues “Projects” to now calling them “Spaces”, in case you see mixed terminology in their documentation or in these lab notes.

  1. On your host machine (not your VM), navigate to https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/service-management/free to begin setting up a Jira Service Management account. We will be utilizing their free trial, so make sure you use an email that has not previously used a trial with Jira.

    1. Sign up with either an email or a service.

    2. You may need to verify your email address (check your spam folder).

    3. You’ll be prompted to name your site; name it whatever you like, but something you’ll remember.
    4. You may be provided with a number of questions to “customize your experience”. Don’t worry too much about that. Once you get through this step your site will be spun up.
    5. You will also be prompted to create a space for your SOC tickets.

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    1. We’re going with “Basic IT service management” as the template for this project; this template best suits the SOC use case.

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      1. Select the template then select “Use template”.
        1. Fill out the project’s name and key parameters as you see fit. The “Key” value will precede each ticket that gets created. For example, “SOC-1”, “SOC-2”, “SOC-3”, etc.
        2. Set “Channel access” to “Restricted”

    2. Once you hit “Create project” Jira will finish spinning up which may take a couple minutes.

    3. Once you land on the welcome page, your space is mostly set up. But there are still a few settings we should change. Quite possibly the most important is …
    4. Turn on dark mode!

    5. Click on your profile in the top right, then Theme → Dark

  2. Once your project has been created and Jira has initialized, you will now have a ticket queue! Let’s explore some basic sections of Jira.

    1. Click the “Jira Service Management” logo in the top left to go to the home page.

    2. This home page will be the “Your work” page by default. This page shows your projects, assigned tasks, and recent work.

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    3. You’ll notice there’s a project there that we didn’t create. Let’s send that, and it’s sample tasks, into the void:

      1. Navigate to More Spaces → View all spaces then under the settings of the sample space select “Move to trash”.

        CleanShot 2026-02-04 at 14.45.11.png

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      2. If you want to explore these sample tickets later you can restore them from the trash within 60 days. But for now we want them out of the way so we can work in a clean environment.

      3. Return to your home page; if you still see the sample project, refresh your browser. The only project you should see now is the one you created when setting up Jira.
      4. If you need to get back to your Jira Space/Project and you can’t find it, don’t worry- Jira UI is notoriously rough around the edges.
        1. There are a few places you could find your Space again.
        2. On the side bar, or if you click the Jira logo in the top left, it should often appear under “Recent Spaces”

      CleanShot 2026-02-04 at 14.51.30.png

  3. You will need to be on a premium trial, so active that trial. You should not need a credit card.

    1. Navigate inside of your Space- Jira subscriptions are per-project.

    2. This button will usually be easy to find. It will either be in the top header bar, or on the left-side menu with text saying something like “Upgrade”. If you aren’t seeing this, try clicking into your Project on the sidebar first.

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    3. Select “Try Now” to activate the trial- We’ll be using the on-call management piece primarily.

      CleanShot 2026-02-04 at 14.52.45.png

    4. You might get a window that asks you to add payment details. Again, this isn’t required. That is just an option so when your trial expires, they can bill you to continue it. If you get that window, you can close it:

      CleanShot 2026-02-04 at 14.54.08.png

    5. The section you’re on now is the Atlassian Admin console. You’re fine to close that tab and return back to your Space. You should now have your trial activated.

    Help and Tips

    • After you delete the sample project you may have to refresh your page to see that it has successfully deleted.
    • Atlassian may have automatically enrolled you in a free trial, so if you don’t see the “Upgrade” button, you should be set.

    Additional References