Depending on your needs, Backbone Issue Sync has two separate licensing models:
Atlassian Marketplace licensing – the standard licensing model, where Backbone must be installed on all synchronized Jira instances (recommended option).
Remote licensing – Backbone only needs to be installed on one Jira Server instance but still needs to be licensed for all instances. This requires more manual set up.
This article explains when and how to license Backbone using either of these models.
Important Note
Backbone Issue Sync needs to be licensed for each Jira instance you want to synchronize with. This is independent of which licensing model you choose.
Atlassian Marketplace licensing
This is the standard licensing model. We recommend this option whenever it's possible to install Backbone on all synchronized Jira systems.
It's quicker to set up than the Remote licensing model, and renewals are automatic, saving time for you. In every Jira all Backbone features can be used and new synchronizations with other projects can be initiated.
What license size do I need and how much does it cost?
The Backbone license size must always be the same as the license size of the base Jira instance it is installed on. You can find the exact prices for each user tier at the Atlassian Marketplace.
For example, you have a server instance with 50 users and your partner has a server instance with 2000 users. You server instance would need a Backbone license for 50 users and the partner instance needs a Backbone license for 2000 users.
As stated before, you only need a license that corresponds to the user tier of the largest Jira application in your instance. For example, if your Jira software instance were 200 users, and your JSM license were 10 users, you'd need a 200 user license for the instance.
Where can I get it?
You can purchase an Atlassian Marketplace license directly from the Atlassian Marketplace, or from your Atlassian partner.
Remote licensing
Please note that remote licenses can only be installed in a Jira Server/Data Center environment, so they are not usable for Jira Cloud to Jira Cloud synchronizations. All configuration needs to be done on the Jira Server/Data Center side.
When you can only install Backbone in one Jira instance.
A remote license can replace a usual Atlassian marketplace license for another Jira instance, so the other instance does not need to install or license Backbone. You still need a marketplace license for your local Jira instance and in addition the remote license.
You can only install a remote license on a Jira Server/Data Center instance. A remote license only works with the HTTPS Model (to server/data center and cloud), but besides that the full issue synchronization feature set is available.
Where can I get it?
Remote licensing is not available on the Atlassian Marketplace – if you are interested in remote licensing, please contact us via the contact form of our remote licensing page.
How does it work?
Remote licensing lets you connect to other Jira instances using remote endpoints. When you buy a remote license, you can specify to have as many remote endpoints as you want (the more you buy, the more expensive the license).
From the instance where you install the remote license (let's call it instance A) you can create synchronizations with other partner instances, regardless of if they have Backbone installed and licensed. For every partner instance where Backbone is not installed and licensed, one of the endpoint licenses of instance A's license is consumed. If you try to use synchronize with more instances than you have endpoint licenses, you will get an error and wont be able to start the synchronization.
As soon as you stop all synchronizations using this Jira as an endpoint, the endpoint license will be released, and can be used in other synchronizations.
What license size do I need and how much does it cost?
The costs of the license is independent of the user tier but based on the number of endpoints. You can get in touch with use through the contact form here. The remote license is a 12 month subscription.
Example license file
In the license file, you can verify your expiration date and the amount of your remote endpoints:
If you are using Backbone 4.3.0 or higher, you can go to manage apps > Backbone Issue Sync > settings and upload the the license file, backbone-issue-sync-license.xml, on that page.
In case you are using an older Backbone version, simply place your license file, backbone-issue-sync-license.xml, into the folder <JIRA_HOME>/data/backbone-issue-sync. You might have to create the backbone-issue-sync folder yourself. If you are using JIRA Data Center, place the license into the shared home directory in the corresponding path, and not in the local home directory.
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