Mapping attachments

There are two ways that files attached to records can be synchronized: by URL, or by value.

  • In the first method, Synchronizer generates a URL for the file, and passes that URL to the destination record. Users in the destination endpoint access the file via the URL, which essentially remains in the source endpoint. If a URL attachment is added to the record in the source endpoint, ALM Octane Synchronizer passes the attached URL to the destination.

  • In the attachments by value method, Synchronizer downloads and uploads a copy of the attachment file itself to the destination endpoint.

By default all attachments are synchronized by URL.

On-premises: You can modify this using a site parameter, as described below.

SaaS: Open a support request to enable the synchronizing of attachments by value for your tenant. On SaaS, the maximum size of attachments that will be synchronized by value is 5MB.

Mapping attachments using URL only

When synchronizing files attached to records, ALM Octane Synchronizer generates a URL for the file, and passes that URL to the destination record. Users in the destination endpoint access the file via the URL, which essentially remains in the source endpoint.

If a URL attachment is added to the record in the source endpoint, ALM Octane Synchronizer simply passes the attached URL to the destination.

For this reason, if you map attachment fields, users must have appropriate permissions in both endpoints to open the synchronized attachment. For example, if a file was originally attached to a record in ALM or Jira, ALM Octane users must have access to the project to open the attachment.

Limitation: URL attachments created by users are not synchronized.

Attachment updates

If you change an attachment on a record, Synchronizer updates the other endpoint.

In addition, Synchronizer updates an attachment if both of the following have changed:

  • The record to which the file is attached
  • The attachment name, size, or last modified property.

The attachment description is not synchronized.

Deleted attachments

  • If an attachment is deleted from the record in the source endpoint, Synchronizer also deletes it from the corresponding record in the destination endpoint.
  • If an attachment is deleted from a destination endpoint, and changes are simultaneously made to the attachment in the source endpoint, the attachment is recreated in the destination endpoint. Otherwise, the attachment remains in the source endpoint only.

Mapping by URL and by attachment ("by value")

In the attachments by value method, Synchronizer downloads and uploads a copy of the attachment file to the destination endpoint.

Synchronizer supports the use of both types of attachment synchronization. In this way, smaller files are synchronized by value (copying the attachment file itself), and larger files use URL, to not impair performance.

To switch between the two methods (on-premises only):

  1. Open the /sync/conf folder, and modify the file sync.site.params.properties.

  2. Edit the SYNC_ATTACHMENT_MB_LIMIT parameter, which represents a file size in megabytes (MB).

  3. Restart the server.

Attachments that are larger than this value are synchronized by URL, and smaller ones are by value.

By default the value is 0, so all attachments are synced by URL.

Note: Changing this parameter does not modify existing synchronized attachments. To synchronize by value an attachment that was already synchronized by URL, delete the URL attachment from the target endpoint, then perform an update on the source entity or schedule a full sync for the next run.

Attachment file names

Synchronizer renames attachments to avoid conflicts.

Attachment updates

If you change an attachment on a record, Synchronizer updates the other endpoint.

In addition, Synchronizer updates an attachment if both of the following have changed:

  • The record to which the file is attached
  • The attachment name, size, or last modified property.

The attachment description is not synchronized.

Deleted attachments

  • If an attachment is deleted from the record in the source endpoint, Synchronizer also deletes it from the corresponding record in the destination endpoint.
  • Deleting from either side deletes the attachment on the other side. Link rules do not impact attachment synchronization, as they are treated like fields.