Q: Where can I find information about bugzilla?
-
A: You can stay up-to-date with the latest bugzilla information
+
Q: Where can I find information about bugzilla?
+
A: You can stay up-to-date with the latest bugzilla information
at http://www.mozilla.org/projects/bugzilla/.
-
Q: What license is Bugzilla distributed under?
-
A: Bugzilla is under the Mozilla Public License. See
+
Q: What license is Bugzilla distributed under?
+
A: Bugzilla is under the Mozilla Public License. See
details at http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/
Q: How do I get commercial support for Bugzilla?
-
A: As far as I know, there are not yet any companies
+
A: As far as I know, there are not yet any companies
that offer commercial Bugzilla support. However, I've heard there are consulting
companies that will install and maintain a Bugzilla installation for charge,
and would accept responsibility for its upkeep. I'm not sure which large
consulting firms do this yet -- I'm open to more contributions in this
area.
-
Q: What major companies or projects are currently using +
Q: What major companies or projects are currently using
Bugzilla for bug-tracking?
-
A: This is by no means a complete list, and is assembled
+
A: This is by no means a complete list, and is assembled
from contributions and about 10 minutes of searching on AltaVista. Contributions
welcome:
Q: How does Bugzilla stack up against other bug-tracking +
Q: How does Bugzilla stack up against other bug-tracking
databases?
-
A: As far as I know, there have been no feature-by-feature
+
A: As far as I know, there have been no feature-by-feature
comparisons to other bug-tracking systems. However, here are some
primary reasons people cite for moving to Bugzilla:
Q: Why doesn't Bugzilla offer this or that feature or compatability +
Q: Why doesn't Bugzilla offer this or that feature or compatability
with <insert cool tracking software here>?
-
A: Terry writes,
+
A: Terry writes,
I wrote Bugzilla primarily for mozilla.org's use. It is a secondary concern (but one still important to me) that it be of use to other folks, too. So, rather than spend a lot of time making everything thoroughly portable @@ -283,9 +283,9 @@ strides in usability, customizability, scalability, and user interfaces. It is widely considered the most complete and popular open-source bug database in existence. Download a copy today! -Red Hat Bugzilla -Q: Why MySQL? I'm interested in seeing this run on +
Q: Why MySQL? I'm interested in seeing this run on (insert "real" RDBMS name here)... -
A: Terry answers, +
A: Terry answers,You're not the only one. But *I* am not very interested. I'm not real SQL or database person. I just wanted to make a useful tool, and build it on top of free software. So, I picked MySQL, and learned SQL by @@ -299,9 +299,9 @@ that's never been a real concern of mine.changes real soon that will bring some more portability to Bugzilla. However, they are in severe need of help. Please contact Dave Lawrence if you are interested in helping this effort. -Q: Why do the scripts say "/usr/bonsaitools/bin/perl" +
Q: Why do the scripts say "/usr/bonsaitools/bin/perl" instead of "/usr/bin/perl" or something else? -
A: Mozilla.org uses /usr/bonsaitools/bin/perl. The prime +
A: Mozilla.org uses /usr/bonsaitools/bin/perl. The prime rule in making submissions is "don't break bugzilla.mozilla.org". If it breaks it, your patch will be reverted faster than you can do a diff. Terry says: @@ -315,8 +315,8 @@ you like.
Q: What about Red Hat Bugzilla?
-
A: Red Hat has a
+
Q: What about Red Hat Bugzilla?
+
A: Red Hat has a
(arguably more user-friendly/customizable/scalable buzzword here) version
of Bugzilla available. Check it out at http://bugzilla.redhat.com
and
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ on a single email conversation with the first developer of Fenris, Raphael
Barrerro <raistlin@lokigames.com>.
Q: What about Loki Bugzilla?
-
A: Loki Games has a customized version of Bugzilla
+
A: Loki Games has a customized version of Bugzilla
available at http://fenris.lokigames.com.
From that page,
You may have noticed that Fenris is a fork from Bugzilla-- @@ -797,20 +797,56 @@ support and proven scalability may be worth it to you. and reboot."-Q: How do I completely disable MySQL security if +Q: How do I completely disable MySQL security if it's giving me problems (I've followed the instructions in the README!)?
-
Q: How do I download and install Bugzilla? -
A: The README included with Bugzilla documents the installation +
Q: How do I download and install Bugzilla? +
A: The README included with Bugzilla documents the installation procedures much more thoroughly than I can do here. You can always find a current copy of the README in the distribution tarballs available at http://www.mozilla.org/projects/bugzilla/ . This will eventually be documented in "The Bugzilla Installation Guide". -Q: How do I install Bugzilla on Windows NT? -
A: That question is complex enough it deserves +Q: How do I install Bugzilla on Windows NT? +
A: That question is complex enough it deserves its own section, below.Q: Is there an easy way to change the Bugzilla cookie name? -
A: At present, no. +
A: At present, no. + +Q: I want to set up a test installation to try out new +changes. How do I copy over data from my real database? +
A: + +Copying the mysql files directly from one machine to another is likely +to confuse mysql. Its recommended to create a dump of the database +and to populate the new database from the dump. ++
+ +- +Create a dump of the original database. +
+ ++%mysqldump bugs > ~/bugs.dump +- +Copy the dump file to the new machine. + +
- +Blow away the contents of the current bugzilla database +on the test machine. +
+ ++%mysql
+mysql> drop database bugs;
+mysql> create database bugs;
+- +Import the bug database +
+ ++%mysql bugs < bugs.dump +
@@ -825,7 +861,7 @@ name? SECURITY
Q: Are there any security problems with Bugzilla?
-
A: Prior to 2.10, yes. For 2.10 and later, probably,
+
Q: Are there any security problems with Bugzilla?
+
A: Prior to 2.10, yes. For 2.10 and later, probably,
but we haven't discovered them yet.. You should upgrade to 2.10 and use
the following instructions from Chris Yeh's security advisory of 5/10/2000
if you are running a previous version of bugzilla. Chances are good a lot
@@ -914,10 +950,10 @@ restarting apache on servers, do (in tcsh anyways):
<wait>
apachectl start
-
Q: I've implemented the security fixes mentioned in Chris +
Q: I've implemented the security fixes mentioned in Chris
Yeh's security advisory of 5/10/2000 advising not to run MySQL as root,
and am running into problems with MySQL no longer working correctly.
-
A: Mozilla.org had a problem getting enough file descriptors
+
A: Mozilla.org had a problem getting enough file descriptors
once they stopped running mysql as root; they have many tables in their
database and had "shadowdb" turned on, which doubles the number of tables.
Terry mentioned in IRC: "I added the line "ulimit -n unlimited" to the
@@ -929,33 +965,33 @@ problems with MySQL.
EMAIL
-
Q: I have a user who doesn't want to receive any more
+
Q: I have a user who doesn't want to receive any more
email from Bugzilla. How do I stop it entirely for this user?
-
A: Easy. Add his/her login name to "bugzilla_home/data/nomail".
+
A: Easy. Add his/her login name to "bugzilla_home/data/nomail".
One entry per line. It must match the login name exactly.
UPDATE: I'm not sure this works as advertised...
Anyone know of any bugs with this solution?
-
Q: I'm evaluating/testing Bugzilla, and don't want it to send +
Q: I'm evaluating/testing Bugzilla, and don't want it to send
email to anyone but me. How do I do it?
-
A: According to Terry, the *correct* way to do this is,
+
A: According to Terry, the *correct* way to do this is,
in editparams.cgi: "Go tweak the param for the mail text, replacing "To:"
with "X-Real-To:", and replacing "Cc:" with "X-Real-CC", and add a "To:
(myemailaddress)". This param file can also be manually edited bugzilla_home/data/params
(but is not recommended).
-
Q: I want whineatnews.pl to whine at something more, +
Q: I want whineatnews.pl to whine at something more,
or other than, only new bugs. How do I do it?
-
A: Try Klaas Freitag's excellent patch for "whineatassigned"
+
A: Try Klaas Freitag's excellent patch for "whineatassigned"
functionality. You can find it at http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=6679.
Realize that as Bugzilla progresses, this patch may go out of date. At
present, I know of no plans to integrate this functionality into the core
Bugzilla distribution.
-
Q: I don't like/want to use Procmail to handle email +
Q: I don't like/want to use Procmail to handle email
to bugzilla. What else can I use?
-
A: Bugzilla can work with alternate MTA's/filters,
+
A: Bugzilla can work with alternate MTA's/filters,
but there is no documentation how.
-
Q: How do I set up the email interface to submit/change +
Q: How do I set up the email interface to submit/change
bugs via email?
-
A: Download the tarball or CVS and extract it (if applicable).
+
A: Download the tarball or CVS and extract it (if applicable).
CD to the (bugzilla_home)/contrib directory, and read the README contained
therein. Seth will be pulling his changes (the bugzilla email submission
stuff) into the main tree sometime as soon as he gets the OK from the powers-that-be.
@@ -1003,9 +1039,9 @@ unless you specify it in this directory. YMMV.
If you've followed the README, you should be good to go; send an email
to "bugs@my.host.name" and watch it work.
-
Q: Email takes FOREVER to reach me from bugzilla -- +
Q: Email takes FOREVER to reach me from bugzilla --
it's extremely slow. What gives?
-
A: If you are using an alternate Mail Transport Agent
+
A: If you are using an alternate Mail Transport Agent
(MTA other than sendmail), make sure the options given in the "processmail"
script for all instances of "sendmail" are correct for your MTA. If you
are using Sendmail, you may wish to delete the "-ODeliveryMode=deferred"
@@ -1017,9 +1053,9 @@ settable parameter. Realize if you turn this off, and plan on sending
more than a few hundred email messages a day, people may experience nasty
slowdowns when submitting changes to bugs because Sendmail insists on delivering
it *that instant*.
-
Q: Email never reaches me from bugzilla changes! What +
Q: Email never reaches me from bugzilla changes! What
gives?
-
A: Chances are really good Bugzilla expects "sendmail"
+
A: Chances are really good Bugzilla expects "sendmail"
to live somewhere else than you have it installed. Make sure your "sendmail"
lives in, or has a symlink to, "/usr/lib/sendmail".
@@ -1027,13 +1063,13 @@ lives in, or has a symlink to, "/usr/lib/sendmail".
Q: Bugs are missing from queries, but exist in the
database (and I can pull them up by specifying the bug ID). What's wrong?
-
A: You've almost certainly enabled the "shadow database",
+
A: You've almost certainly enabled the "shadow database",
but for some reason it hasn't been updated for all your bugs. This is the
database against which queries are run, so that really complex or slow
queries won't lock up portions of the database for other users. You can
@@ -1046,7 +1082,7 @@ syncshadowdb program turns it off if it was on, and is supposed to turn
it back on when completed; that way, if it crashes in the middle of recreating
the database, it will stay off forever until someone turns it back on by
hand. Apparently, it doesn't always do that yet.
-
Q: I think my database might be corrupted, or contain invalid +
Q: I think my database might be corrupted, or contain invalid
entries. What do I do?
A: Run the "sanity check" utility (./sanitycheck.cgi in the bugzilla_home
directory) to see! If it all comes back, you're OK. If it doesn't
@@ -1054,9 +1090,9 @@ come back OK (i.e. any red letters), there are certain things Bugzilla
can recover from and certain things it can't. If it can't auto-recover,
I hope you're familiar with mysqladmin commands or have installed another
way to manage your database...
-
Q: I want to manually edit some entries in my database. +
Q: I want to manually edit some entries in my database.
How?
-
A: There is no facility in Bugzilla itself to do this. It's
+
A: There is no facility in Bugzilla itself to do this. It's
also generally not a smart thing to do if you don't know exactly what you're
doing. However, if you understand SQL you can use the mysqladmin utility
to manually insert, delete, and modify table information. Personally, I
@@ -1064,20 +1100,20 @@ hate dealing with big SELECT statements and such, so I use "www.mysql.com if
you want this to work.
-
Q: I think I've set up MySQL permissions correctly, +
Q: I think I've set up MySQL permissions correctly,
but bugzilla still can't connect.
-
A: Try running MySQL from its binary: "mysqld --skip-grant-tables".
+
A: Try running MySQL from its binary: "mysqld --skip-grant-tables".
This will allow you to completely rule out grant tables as the cause of
your frustration. However, I do not recommend you run it this way on a
regular basis, unless you really want your web site defaced and your machine
cracked...
-
Q: How do I synchronize bug information among multiple +
Q: How do I synchronize bug information among multiple
different Bugzilla databases?
-
A: Currently, there is no way to do this. However, a
+
A: Currently, there is no way to do this. However, a
discussion about this has raged on and off in the newsgroup -- feel free
to whip something up, put it out there, and see how it's received. We're
at the point where most folks are sick of discussion. If you can create
@@ -1117,11 +1153,11 @@ Barnson with details.
These are hints straight out of the newsgroup discussions. I
can't offer much more editing or insight, since I don't manage Bugzilla
on any NT boxes.
-
Q: What is the easiest way to run Bugzilla on NT?
-
A: Remove NT. Install Linux. Slap a label on the box
+
Q: What is the easiest way to run Bugzilla on NT?
+
A: Remove NT. Install Linux. Slap a label on the box
that says "Windows NT." The boss will never know the difference, except
perhaps wonder why the machine isn't crashing anymore.
-
Q: CGI's are failing with a "something.cgi is not a +
Q: CGI's are failing with a "something.cgi is not a
valid Windows NT application" error. Why?
A: Depending on what Web server you are using, you will
have to configure the Web server to treat *.cgi files as CGI scripts. In
@@ -1137,9 +1173,9 @@ change the association of .pl to perl.exe, you need to change the application
mapping. In the mapping, you must add two percent (%) characters to the
end of the pathname for perl.exe, as shown in this example: c:\perl\bin\perl.exe
%s %s"
-
Q: Can I have some general instructions on how to make +
Q: Can I have some general instructions on how to make
this work?
-
A: Sure. Your Mileage May Vary. Contact Andrew
+
A: Sure. Your Mileage May Vary. Contact Andrew
Lahser for the patches mentioned.
Q: How do I use "new email tech"?
-
A: First, go to editparams.cgi and make sure the "newemailtech"
+
Q: How do I use "new email tech"?
+
A: First, go to editparams.cgi and make sure the "newemailtech"
option is set to "on", then set the "new email tech" option in your personal
user prefs "on".
-
Q: How do I make "new email tech" the default for my entire +
Q: How do I make "new email tech" the default for my entire
site?
-
A: You need to alter the user preferences table using
+
A: You need to alter the user preferences table using
one of the tools mentioned in the DATABASE section.
Change the default value for "newemailtech" to "1", and change any user
values you think apply.
-
Q: I'm confused by the behavior of the "accept" button +
Q: I'm confused by the behavior of the "accept" button
in the Show Bug form. Why doesn't it assign the bug to me when I accept
it?
-
A: Right now, how this should behave is the subject of
+
A: Right now, how this should behave is the subject of
considerable discussion on the mailing list and in the bug database. There
is a patch
for
@@ -1328,11 +1364,11 @@ I come up with a course of action on it."
I'm working on a real patch for this now that allows you to select which
behavior you want vi editparams.cgi!
Q: How do I enable voting?
-
A: Make sure you're using at least version 2.10.
+
A: Make sure you're using at least version 2.10.
It's available via editparams.cgi.
Q: I can't upload anything into the database via the
"Create Attachment" link. What am I doing wrong?
-
A: The most likely cause is a very old browser
+
A: The most likely cause is a very old browser
or a browser that is incompatible with file upload via POST. Download
the latest Netscape, Microsoft, or Mozilla browser to handle uploads correctly.
Q: Email submissions to Bugzilla that have attachments @@ -1356,18 +1392,18 @@ in your inbox in moments.
Q: What bugs currently exist in bugzilla?
-
A: The answer is too long (and easily outdated)
+
Q: What bugs currently exist in bugzilla?
+
A: The answer is too long (and easily outdated)
to keep in this FAQ. However, bugzilla is made for this, so just
try this
link.
-
Q: Groups don't quite work right yet...
-
A: Correct. That's a current area of hacking.
+
Q: Groups don't quite work right yet...
+
A: Correct. That's a current area of hacking.
You may want to check out Loki's version of Bugzilla for some patches that
support the group functionality you need.
-
Q: Why can't I set "target milestone" to something other +
Q: Why can't I set "target milestone" to something other
than a number?
-
A: The concept of a target milestone was initially
+
A: The concept of a target milestone was initially
that each group would have their own definition for what each target milestone
number is, but share a common pool of numbers. Unfortunately, this
concept has proven confusing for new and experienced users alike.
@@ -1401,7 +1437,7 @@ do not allow bug deletion.
my hard drive?"
Q: What's the best way to submit patches? What +
Q: What's the best way to submit patches? What
guidelines should I follow.
A: Tara summed this FAQ up nicely:
"Well, I guess I'd better answer this, as I'm the one who's @@ -1416,9 +1452,9 @@ the newsgroup so more people can have a look and provide feedback, suggestions, etc. That way I think all bases are covered. Speaking for myself in trying to be a good module owner, getting a new bug makes sure I-Q: What does the above mean for me when I want to +Q: What does the above mean for me when I want to submit a bug? -
don't lose track of your patch, so this makes it easier for me."
Q: What are the most-needed features?
-
A: Check out the Bugzilla Development Roadmap at
+
Q: What are the most-needed features?
+
A: Check out the Bugzilla Development Roadmap at
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/bugzilla/roadmap.html
@@ -1480,13 +1516,13 @@ FAQ's that cannot be easily printed as one page, and not easily portable to another format (particulary PDF). One must be able to maintain the FAQ as a single, printable document; if you know of a good system that will fit the bill, let me know. -
Q: Who are you?
-
A: I'm Matthew P. Barnson, manager of Systems Administration
+
Q: Who are you?
+
A: I'm Matthew P. Barnson, manager of Systems Administration
for Excite Business Applications
and
part-time Bugzilla hacker.
-
Q: Why are you doing this?
-
A: I have nothing better to do with my time!
+
Q: Why are you doing this?
+
A: I have nothing better to do with my time!
Seriously, I run a fairly large private Bugzilla database.
I felt the need for some documentation to help other SysAdmins run this
thing. There was nothing out there like it, so I decided to improve
@@ -1496,12 +1532,12 @@ Webtools are far more in need of good documentation and a major architectural
rewrite than they are more hacks to support more features. Since
I'm not qualified to write more than trivial hacks for Bugzilla if I were
to code, I figured doing some documentation would be A Good Thing.
-
Q: How are you affiliated with Mozilla.org? +
Q: How are you affiliated with Mozilla.org?
A: I'm not, except I've been appointed the "Docs
Knight" for Bugzilla, and contribute documentation to other webtools.
-
Q: Where do those lame quotes in each section +
Q: Where do those lame quotes in each section
heading come from?
-
A: Check out http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/data/comments.
+
A: Check out http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/data/comments.
These are random quips added by people who use bugzilla. I find them
endlessly entertaining.
Q: What other documentation is available?