Hi Mark.

For already existing items, you will have to prepare a cross-references file and import it into Connect - it "teaches" Connect which items on both sides are related to each other.
https://admhelp.microfocus.com/connect/en/24.1-24.2/Online/Content/Topics/cross-references.htm

To be able to do this in the first place, you have to prepare a connection configuration in Connect. Importing/Exporting x-refs in a per-connection activity.

An optional, safer way to get started with a connection would be to temporarily turn off the ability of Connect to create any new items. You can do this per type per data source. Go to each of the two data source, go to the "Types" tab for each and turn off "Create New Items" for each relevant type.

General remarks:
- Do not use "Common Projects" in connections. Do not.
- If you need filtering, use filters instead of Sync Criteria.

Thanks Dominique.

Unfortunately, I don't have the option available in the SAAS offering. Support has confirmed that it's a SaaS restriction and only available to Site Admins. This means that we'll have to raise support tickets whenever we need this and I might just opt for a manual solution of deleting duplicates.

 Out of curiousity, you mentioned not to use Common Projects in Connections. Why is that? And is that overall or just for this case? 

Hi Mark.

NEVER use Common Projects except for legacy reasons. And even then you should work to migrate away from them.
Using them precludes the usage of filters - filters are server-side and as such, they are much more performant and scalable than client-side Sync Criteria.
Second, you cannot effectively use Calculated Values, either.
Third, once you use them, it is not easy to migrate away from them (existing cross-references need to be migrated as their scope changes).

Re Connect SaaS:
Yes, you can get xrefs imported via a ticket, that is correct.
For the next release of Connect (likely October), we plan ("plan" = no guarantee) to remove this restriction.

Best,
Dom.

Hi Dominique,

I didn't pay attention to the 2nd suggestion till now. Could you elaborate on temporarily turning off create new items before turning on connection? If I do this and then turn on sync, that means anything created in Jira\Octane will not create a new item on the other side? What would be the next step? Do I intiate a dry run to establish the connection with existing items, and then turn on creation of new items?

Thanks