File Bugs

This article describes how to file bugs in our Bugzilla Bug-Tracking Software. Bugzilla is used to gather information about failing or misbehaving components and allows to coordinate bug fixing efforts.

First steps when encountering a bug

If you think you found a bug in ReactOS please ensure the following:

• Make sure you can replicate your bug. Restart ReactOS and try again to make sure.
• Check that it hasn't been reported already. The bugzilla search will help you confirm this.
• Make sure you are testing a recent and official ReactOS build. New nighly builds (preferred testing source) can be obtained here.
• If you are running ReactOS on a virtual machine, please mind that we support QEMU, VMware and VirtualBox. Others are not supported.

If those points are valid for your bug you most likely found an issue. Since certain bug types are out of the scope of the project make sure the follows section applies as well.

Bugs to not report in the ReactOS Bugzilla

• Build breakages on the common platforms (Windows, Linux). Please report build breakages on IRC, or to the ros-dev mailing list.
• Features reported to be in the next version of Windows (WinFS, etc..).
• Bugs in external components (Freetype, Wine, Mesa etc.). Please use the other projects bug trackers for this purpose.

Information to include

• Include steps how to reproduce the bug.
• Tell us your hardware or virtual machine configuration.
• Include the ReactOS version you tested (open up a commandline and type 'ver' in case you are unsure).
• In case the bug is related to an external application make sure you include the version number.
• Add a screenshot in case it's a graphical bug (a picture is worth a 1000 words), attach it to bugzilla instead of using external hosting services.
• Provide a debug log, especially in case of crashes, freezes and application errors. See Debugging on how to obtain high quality debug output.

Reporting Guidelines

• Choose a concise bug title

• Try not to paste the debug log directly into the bug report, attach it instead. It helps readability.

• Use Bugzilla as a way to file bugs, not to ask for support or discuss other things not related to the bug.

• The bug report should cover a single problem, no matter if it happens in multiple applications or has multiple ways of replicating it.

• Do not post more than one issue in a single bug report.

Bugs that do not follow the guidelines will be closed as INVALID and the reporter will be asked to report the bug properly. If you have any questions or problems regarding reporting bugs, please consult amine48rz, Caemyr or gabriel_it on IRC.

Using Bugzilla

To use the Bugzilla, you need to create a myReactOS account on the ReactOS.org site, which will allow access to Bugzilla.

The Bugzilla form is pretty straight-forward, but here are some tips:

• Version: If you are using a release, please indicate the version you are using. If you are using a build from SVN that is newer than the latest release, please use the version "TRUNK"
• Component: This is the "area" of ReactOS where the bug is located. The Component link next to the select box explains each component. If unsure, please guess, we can change it later.
• Platform: Please note on what type of hardware you experienced this bug. If unsure, use the default "x86 Hardware"
• OS: The OS on which the bug happened. Usually will be "ReactOS", but if you were testing ReactOS components on Windows, please indicate which version.
• Severity: This indicates how "bad" the bug is. For most bugs, please leave this at "normal", we will adjust the severity as needed. Please do not file bugs as "blocker". The Testing Coordinator or Developers will determine if a bug is a blocker. Please see ReactOS Bugzilla Severities for more information.
• Assigned To: This will be filled automatically, when you choose a Component.
• URL: If this bug is against the "Online Services" component, please give the URL of the problem page.
• Summary: A short description of the bug. When doing a bug listing, this is the only bug description shown. Please make this as clear as possible, since other users reporting bugs will need to check if a bug has already been filed.
• Description: The detailed description of the bug, please place all the information you have gathered (above).
• Depends On: Bugs that need to be fixed, before the reported bug can be fixed. We will generally fill this in when needed.
• Blocks: The reported bug needs to be fixed in order to fix these bugs. We will fill this in as needed.
• Add an Attachment: This button can be used to attach files (debug logs, screenshots, patches) to the bug.

Some notes about Bugzilla

• After a bug is filed, or anytime it is updated, an email is sent to the ros-bugs mailing list
• The words "attachment" and "bug" are automatically linked in the description text. So if you say "This may be related to bug 1234", "bug 1234" will automatically become a link to bug 1234. "bug 1234 comment 2" will link to bug 1234 and go straight to comment 2.
• You could modify the wrong bug because of a "feature" in Bugzilla. After modifying a bug, Bugzilla takes you to the next bug in your list, so if you wanted to add something you forgot in your previous comment, you'd be updating another bug. Please check your preferences in Bugzilla: General preferences -> "After changing a bug" set it to "show the updated bug" and hit submit changes.
• You can use the Deskzilla program with the ReactOS Bugzilla, for more information consult the Deskzilla page.