Annotation of www/report.html, Revision 1.8
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3: <title>OpenBSD problem reports</title>
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1.5 deraadt 13: <img alt="[OpenBSD]" height=30 width=141 SRC="images/smalltitle.gif">
14: <p>
1.6 deraadt 15: <h2><font color=#e00000>How to report a Problem</font><hr></h2>
1.5 deraadt 16:
17: <h3><font color=#0000e0>Released versions problem reports.</font></h3>
1.4 deraadt 18:
1.5 deraadt 19: Before reporting bugs/problems with released versions,
1.1 deraadt 20: go through this checklist:
1.4 deraadt 21: <ol>
22: <li>First check for <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/errata.html">patches
23: and notes regarding the release.</a>
24: <li>Next find out if there is a <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/orders.html">
25: newer release available.</a>
26: <li>The last thing to check is for <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/plus.html">
27: changes made between OpenBSD versions.</a>
28: </ol>
29: <p>
30: If nothing looks like it addresses your problem, then it may be time to read
31: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=sendbug&&sektion=1&format=html">
32: man sendbug</a>
33: before submitting a bug report.
34: <p>
35: Read further down for the <a href="#bugtypes">types of bug reports</a> desired.
36:
1.5 deraadt 37: <h3><font color=#0000e0>Current version problem reports.</font></h3>
38:
1.4 deraadt 39: <ol>
40: <li>Test the problem at least twice, with source updated a few days apart.
41: <li>Do not report source tree compilation problems, unless they persist.
1.1 deraadt 42: They are almost always your mistake or they are being worked on
43: as you encounter them. People working on the project are
1.4 deraadt 44: doing <u>make build</u> at least once per day, and usually several times
1.1 deraadt 45: per day with different architectures.
1.4 deraadt 46: <li>Remember that the <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/anoncvs.html">anoncvs</a>
1.1 deraadt 47: servers are updated significantly behind the actual working source tree.
1.4 deraadt 48: <li>Check for <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/plus.html">changes
49: made between OpenBSD versions</a> to see if the problem has been
1.1 deraadt 50: addressed.
1.4 deraadt 51: <li>Much care is made in creating snapshots. Sometimes mistakes are made,
1.1 deraadt 52: and our apologies are extended. Reading/writing the e-mail lists
53: is more appropriate than sending in a bug report.
1.4 deraadt 54: </ol>
55: <br>
1.5 deraadt 56:
1.8 ! chris 57: <h3><font color=#0000e0>How to create a problem report.</font></h3>
! 58:
! 59: <b>Always provide as much information as possible</b>.
! 60: The following items should be contained in every bug report:
! 61: <ol>
! 62: <P>
! 63: <li>The exact sequence of steps from startup necessary to reproduce
! 64: the problem. This should be self-contained; it is not enough to send in
! 65: a bare command without the arguments and other data you supplied to it.
! 66: If a bug requires a particular sequence of events, please list those.
! 67: You are encouraged to minimize the size of your example, but this is
! 68: not absolutely necessary. If the bug is reproduceable, we'll find it
! 69: either way.
! 70: <p>
! 71: <li>The output you got. Please do not say that it "didn't work" or
! 72: "failed". If there is an error message, show it, even if you don't
! 73: understand it. If OpenBSD panics with a particular error, say which.
! 74: If nothing at all happens, say so. Even if the result
! 75: of your test case is a program crash or otherwise obvious it might not
! 76: happen in our testing. The easiest thing is to copy the output from
! 77: the terminal, if possible.
! 78: <p>
! 79:
! 80: Note: In case of fatal errors, the error message provided
! 81: might not contain all the information available.
! 82: In that case, also look at the output in the system log files,
! 83: such as those stored in /var/log. Also, if you are dealing with
! 84: an application that has its own log files, such as httpd, check
! 85: for errors where it keeps its logs (in the case of httpd, this
! 86: is /var/www/logs).
! 87:
! 88: <p>
! 89: <li>The OpenBSD kernel output. You can get this with the dmesg command,
! 90: but it is possible that your dmesg output does not contain all the
! 91: information that is captured in /var/run/dmesg.boot. If this is the
! 92: case, include information from both. <b>Please include this
! 93: in all bug reports.</b>
! 94: <P>
! 95: <li> If you run third-party software which has to do with your bug, say so, including any
! 96: subversion that software may have. If you are talking about a CVS or FTP
! 97: snapshot, mention that, including its date and time.
! 98:
! 99: </ol>
! 100: <p>
! 101: Do not be afraid if your bug report becomes rather lengthy. That is a fact
! 102: of life. It's better to report everything the first time than us having to
! 103: squeeze the facts out of you. On the other hand, if your input files are
! 104: huge, it is fair to ask first whether somebody is interested in looking into
! 105: it.
! 106: <P>
! 107: Finally, when writing a bug report, please choose non-confusing terminology.
! 108:
1.4 deraadt 109: <a name="bugtypes">
1.5 deraadt 110: <h3><font color=#0000e0>Sending in bug reports.</font></h3>
1.1 deraadt 111:
112: Try to pin-point the exact problem. Never give vague instructions,
113: or detail vague problems like "it crashes" or "I get strange interrupt
114: issues on this one box that I built." Talk to others on IRC or some
115: other forum to confirm that it is new, repeatable, etc. and make sure
116: it is not a local problem. And please don't start fixing problems that
117: require significant work until you are sure you understand them, especially
118: during our release periods when we must not change major sections of code.
119: If you are going to write significant amounts of code, check various
120: forums to make sure that someone else is not working on the problem
121: (saving duplication of effort).
122:
1.4 deraadt 123: <p>
1.1 deraadt 124: New features are accepted, especially with code that implements
125: your suggested new feature.
126: If someone else writes code for your new feature, the chances are that
127: it will be misunderstood and created so that you will not recognize it.
128:
1.4 deraadt 129: <p>
1.5 deraadt 130: For debugging some problems, we must have the hardware that has the
131: problem. Please remember that projects resources are limited.
132: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/want.html">You could donate some hardware.</a>
1.1 deraadt 133:
1.4 deraadt 134: <p>
1.1 deraadt 135: Types of bug reports in order of desirability:
1.4 deraadt 136: <ol>
137: <li>Repeatable problems with source fixes are the best.
138: <li>Repeatable problems that are not specific to your hardware/software
1.1 deraadt 139: layout.
1.4 deraadt 140: <li>Repeatable problems specific to your software layout.
141: <li>Repeatable problems specific to your hardware layout.
142: <li>Non-repeatable problems -- or problems you do not wish to repeat.
143: </ol>
1.1 deraadt 144:
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