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    <h1>Bug reporting</h1>

    <ul id="toc"></ul>

    <h2><a name="security">Security Issues</a></h2>

    <p>
      If you think that an issue with libvirt may have security
      implications, <strong>please do not</strong> publically
      report it in the bug tracker, mailing lists, or irc. Libvirt
      has <a href="securityprocess.html">a dedicated process for handling (potential) security issues</a>
      that should be used instead. So if your issue has security
      implications, ignore the rest of this page and follow the
      <a href="securityprocess.html">security process</a> instead.
    </p>

    <h2><a name="bugzilla">Bug Tracking</a></h2>

    <p>
      If you are using libvirt binaries from a Linux distribution
      check below for distribution specific bug reporting policies
      first.
    </p>

    <h2><a name="general">General libvirt bug reports</a></h2>

    <p>
      The <a href="http://bugzilla.redhat.com">Red Hat Bugzilla Server</a>
      should be used to report bugs and request features in libvirt.
      Before submitting a ticket, check the existing tickets to see if
      the bug/feature is already tracked.

      For general libvirt bug reports, from self-built releases, GIT snapshots
      and any other non-distribution supported builds, enter tickets under
      the <code>Virtualization Tools</code> product and the <code>libvirt</code>
      component.
    </p>
    <p>
      It's always a good idea to file bug reports, as the process of
      filing the report always makes it easier to describe the
      problem, and the bug number provides a quick way of referring to
      the problem.  However, not everybody in the community pays
      attention to bugzilla, so after you file a bug, asking questions
      and submitting patches on <a href="contact.html">the libvirt
      mailing lists</a> will increase your bug's visibility and
      encourage people to think about your problem.  Don't hesitate to
      ask questions on the list, as others may know of existing
      solutions or be interested in collaborating with you on finding
      a solution.  Patches are always appreciated, and it's likely
      that someone else has the same problem you do!
    </p>
    <p>
      If you decide to write code, though, before you begin please
      read the <a href="hacking.html">contributor guidelines</a>,
      especially the first point: "Discuss any large changes on the
      mailing list first. Post patches early and listen to feedback."
      Few development experiences are more discouraging than spending
      a bunch of time writing a patch only to have someone point out a
      better approach on list.
    </p>

    <ul>
      <li><a href="http://bugzilla.redhat.com/buglist.cgi?component=libvirt&amp;product=Virtualization%20Tools">View libvirt tickets</a></li>
      <li><a href="http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/enter_bug.cgi?product=Virtualization%20Tools&amp;component=libvirt">New libvirt ticket</a></li>
    </ul>

    <h2><a name="distribution">Linux Distribution specific bug reports</a></h2>
    <ul>
      <li>
        If you are using binaries from <strong>Fedora</strong>, enter
        tickets against the <code>Fedora</code> product and
        the <code>libvirt</code> component.
        <ul>
          <li><a href="http://bugzilla.redhat.com/buglist.cgi?component=libvirt&amp;product=Fedora">View Fedora libvirt tickets</a></li>
          <li><a href="http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/enter_bug.cgi?product=Fedora&amp;component=libvirt">New Fedora libvirt ticket</a></li>
        </ul>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p>
          If you are using binaries from <strong>Red Hat Enterprise
          Linux</strong>, enter tickets against the Red Hat Enterprise
          Linux product that you're using (e.g., Red Hat Enterprise
          Linux 6) and the <code>libvirt</code> component.  Red Hat
          bugzilla has <a href="http://bugzilla.redhat.com">additional guidance</a> about getting support if
          you are a Red Hat customer.
        </p>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p>
          If you are using binaries from another Linux distribution
          first follow their own bug reporting guidelines.
        </p>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p>
          Finally, if you are a contributor to another Linux
          distribution and would like to have your procedure for
          filing bugs mentioned here, please mail the libvirt
          development list.
        </p>
      </li>
    </ul>


    <h2><a name="quality">How to file high quality bug reports</a></h2>

    <p>
      To increase the likelihood of your bug report being addressed it is
      important to provide as much information as possible. When filing
      libvirt bugs use this checklist to see if you are providing enough
      information:
    </p>

    <ul>
      <li>The version number of the libvirt build, or SHA1 of the GIT
        commit</li>
      <li>The hardware architecture being used</li>
      <li>The name of the hypervisor (Xen, QEMU, KVM)</li>
      <li>The XML config of the guest domain if relevant</li>
      <li>For Xen hypervisor, the XenD logfile from /var/log/xen</li>
      <li>For QEMU/KVM, the domain logfile from /var/log/libvirt/qemu</li>
    </ul>

    <p>
      If the bug leads to a tool linked to libvirt crash, then the best
      is to provide a backtrace along with the scenario used to get the
      crash, the simplest is to run the program under gdb, reproduce the
      steps leading to the crash and then issue a gdb "bt -a" command to
      get the stack trace, attach it to the bug. Note that for the
      data to be really useful libvirt debug information must be present
      for example by installing libvirt debuginfo package on Fedora or
      Red Hat Enterprise Linux (with debuginfo-install libvirt) prior
      to running gdb.</p>
    <p>
      It may also happen that the libvirt daemon itself crashes or gets stuck,
      in the first case run it (as root) under gdb, and reproduce the sequence
      leading to the crash, similarly to a normal program provide the
      "bt" backtrace information to where gdb will have stopped.<br/>
      But if libvirtd gets stuck, for example seems to stop processing
      commands, try to attach to the faulty daemon and issue a gdb command
      "thread apply all bt" to show all the threads backtraces, as in:</p>
      <pre> #  ps -o etime,pid `pgrep libvirt`
... note the process id from the output
# gdb /usr/sbin/libvirtd
.... some information about gdb and loading debug data
(gdb) attach $the_daemon_process_id
....
(gdb) thread apply all bt
.... information to attach to the bug
(gdb)
</pre>

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