From ad903083e6acfd9c79502dc4c3e2048407d1b0e8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "tara%tequilarista.org" <> Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 02:47:08 +0000 Subject: checking in 0.2.1 of the FAQ --- docs/FAQ.html | 1238 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 1238 insertions(+) create mode 100644 docs/FAQ.html (limited to 'docs') diff --git a/docs/FAQ.html b/docs/FAQ.html new file mode 100644 index 000000000..01f9b9a4f --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/FAQ.html @@ -0,0 +1,1238 @@ + + + + + + + + The Unofficial Webtools FAQ v 0.2.1 + + + +
+

+The Unofficial Webtools FAQ v 0.2.1

+The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version +1.1 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with +the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/ +.  Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS +IS" basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See +the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations +under the License. +

The Original Code is "The Unofficial Webtools FAQ". +

The Initial Developer of the Original Code is AtHome Corporation. Portions +created by AtHome are Copyright © 1995-2000 AtHome Corporation. All +Rights Reserved. @Home, Excite@Home, @Work, and Excite are the trademarks +of At Home Corporation, and may be registered in certain jurisdictions +

Contributor(s): +

+Last change: April 10, 2000 +

Changes: +
Version 0.2: Initial public release. (April 10, 2000) +
Version 0.2.1: Fixed formatting, released as HTML.  Also corrected +incorrect fix for missing bugs from queries (it's syncshadowdb, not processmail) +and information about bugzilla maintainers (April 10,2000) +
Version 0.2.2: +

    +
  1. +Fixed mailto: links (they were showing up as "documents/"... weird)
  2. + +
  3. +Added new sections:
  4. + +
      +
    1. +API notes (such as it is)
    2. + +
    3. +common feature requests
    4. + +
    5. +more FAQ's
    6. + +
    7. +Fixed several tpyos
    8. +
    + +
  5. +Take into account recent submissions to the newsgroup
  6. + +
  7. +Removed "Bugzilla Gotchas" section and integrated entries into "Bugzilla +Bugs"
  8. +
+ +


Maintainer: Matthew P. +Barnson +
  +

+

+Table of Contents

+ +
INTRODUCTION +
BUGZILLA GENERAL +
BUGZILLA INSTALLATION +
BUGZILLA CONFIGURATION +
--security +
--email +
--database +
BUGZILLA and WINDOWS NT +
BUGZILLA USE +
BUGZILLA KNOWN BUGS +
BUGZILLA HACKING +
--API +
TINDERBOX +
BONSAI
+ +

+


+
+

+INTRODUCTION

+ +
or "And all this time we thought we were *reducing* the number +of bugs"
+ +
+
The Unofficial Webtools FAQ is designed to answer common user questions +outside the scope of the webtools README files and supporting documentation +in an easy "question and answer" format. Where appropriate, this FAQ will +refer to URLs rather than including documents in their entirety to ensure +completeness even should this FAQ become out of date. This is a living +document; please be sure to update your copy from the latest version available +in the netscape.public.mozilla.webtools newsgroup before mirroring. As +yet, there is no permanent home for the document other than the newsgroup. +

This FAQ is not maintained by Netscape or Netscape employees, so please +do not contact them regarding errors or omissions contained herein. Please +direct all questions, comments, updates, flames, etc. to Matthew +P. Barnson (barnboy or barnhome on irc.mozilla.org in #mozwebtools). +

I'm sure I've made some glaring errors or omissions in this paper -- +please email me corrections +or post corrections to the netscape.public.mozilla.webtools newsgroup. +

Bugzilla attracts very intelligent, competent people who need a good +bug-tracking system to support their projects, so I make a few assumptions +in this FAQ: +

    +
  1. +You are using UNIX, or you use NT and have a high tolerance for pain.
  2. + +
  3. +You are a competent systems administrator with a working knowledge of UNIX +shells, security, Apache or Netscape/iPlanet web server, Perl, and MySQL.
  4. + +
  5. +You are not easily frustrated, and have a strong ability to figure out +answers to problems.
  6. +
+ +
+
+

+BUGZILLA GENERAL

+ +
or "It's not a bug.  It's a feature."
+ +
+

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 +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 +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 it's 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 +Bugzilla for bug-tracking? +
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: Who maintains Bugzilla? +
A: Tara Hernandez +is the current maintainer of Bugzilla. It was originally written and maintained +by Terry Weissman, but he is no +longer heavily involved (Tara adds, "These days, Terry +just hangs around and heckles").  The Quality Assurance contact for +Bugzilla, who makes sure we don't get too far out of line is Matthew +Tuck. You'll often hear from and about Dan +Mosedale and Dawn Endico. Check +out their bios and responsibilities at http://www.mozilla.org/about.html.  +They bear primary responsibility for keeping the current bugzilla.mozilla.org +site up-to-date, and have a vital interest in ensuring Bugzilla moves forward +(and doesn't break!) +

Q: Why does Bugzilla use .png files instead of .gifs +for graphs? +
A: Patent restrictions (see http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/gif.html +for details). If you're using a recent version of the GD library and a +recent version of Bugzilla, this is no longer a FAQ. +

Q: How does Bugzilla stack up against other bug-tracking +databases? +
A: As far as I know, there have been no feature-by-feature +comparisons to other bug-tracking systems.  Howeve, here are some +primary reasons people cite for moving to Bugzilla: +

    +
  1. +Customizability
  2. + +
  3. +Maintainability (quick security fixes and trivial upgrades)
  4. + +
  5. +Industry support (MySQL, Oracle, +instead of custom little SQL DB)
  6. + +
  7. +Adherence to web standards (CGI, +Perl, +SQL)
  8. + +
  9. +Speed, proven on very large installations (bugzilla.mozilla.org)
  10. + +
  11. +UNIX-based
  12. + +
  13. +Open +Source.
  14. + +
  15. +Price.  However, don't let price be the selling point of Bugzilla +-- it survives on it's own merits.
  16. +
+Q: How do I change my username in Bugzilla? +
A: You can't, through the regular Bugzilla interfaces. +You can do one of the following: +
    +
  1. +Create a new user account
  2. + +
  3. +Change the Real Name associated with your login
  4. + +
  5. +Manually edit the database entry.
  6. +
+Q:  Why doesn't Bugzilla offer this or that feature or compatability +with <insert cool tracking software here>? +
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 +and easy to install, I just threw it over the wall, and prayed that random +developers would help pitch in and make things easier for everyone.(I'm +being a little hard on myself here. I *did* spend a week porting the whole +thing from TCL to Perl, just so that outside folk would have a chance of +using it. You shoulda seen it before...)
+UPDATE: Bugzilla is making tremendous 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! +

Q: Why MySQL? I'm interested in seeing this run on +(insert "real" RDBMS name here)... +
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 +staring at the MySQL manual and some code lying around here, and +
wrote Bugzilla. I didn't know that Enum's were non-standard SQL. I'm +not sure if I would have cared, but I didn't even know. So, to me, things +are "portable" because it uses MySQL, and MySQL is portable enough. I fully +understand (now) that people want to be portable to other databases, but +that's never been a real concern of mine.
+UPDATED ANSWER: Looks like RedHat might land changes real soon that +will bring some more portability to Bugzilla.  However, they are in +severe need of help.  Please contact dkl@redhat.com +if you are interested in helping this effort. +

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 +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: +

Purely my own convention. I wanted a place to put a version +of Perl and other tools that was strictly under my control for the various +webtools, and not subject to anyone else. Edit it to point to whatever +you like.
+ +


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 +the sources at ftp://people.redhat.com/dkl/. +They've set theirs up to work with Oracle out of the box. The buzz says +their changes will be landing in the source tree "real soon now".  +Note that it is based primarily upon the 2.8 Bugzilla tree; Bugzilla has +made some tremendous advances since the 2.8 release.  I recommend +you download the primary Bugzilla as well as Red Hat's to check out the +differences for yourself.  Red Hat Bugzilla's maintainer, dkl@redhat.com, +when asked about landing the changes from the Red Hat fork, notes, +

Somebody needs to take the ball and run with it.  I'm +the only maintainer and am very pressed for time.
+ +


Q:  What about Loki 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-- +our patches weren't suitable for integration --and a few people have expressed +interest in the code. Fenris has one major improvement over Bugzilla, and +that is individual comments are not appended onto a string blob, they are +stored as a record in a separate table. This allows you to, for instance, +separate comments out according to privilege levels in case your bug database +could contain sensitive information not for public eyes. We also provide +things like email hiding to protect user's privacy, additional fields such +as 'user_affected' in case someone enters someone else's bug, comment editing +and deletion, and more conditional system variables than Bugzilla does +(turn off attachments, qacontact, etc.).
+Like Red Hat Bugzilla, I recommend if you are interested in their changes +that you download the source and compare. +
 
+ +
+
+

+BUGZILLA INSTALLATION

+ +
or "Divide by cucumber error.  Please re-install universe +and reboot."
+ +
+
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". +

QHow do I install Bugzilla on Windows NT? +
A:  That question is complex enough it deserves +it's +own section, below. +

Q:  Is there an easy way to change the Bugzilla cookie +name? +
A:  At present, no. +

+


+
+

+BUGZILLA CONFIGURATION

+ +
or "make config. not war"
+ +
+
  +
+

+SECURITY

+
+QHow do I completely disable MySQL security if +it's giving me problems (I've followed the instructions in the README!)? +
A:  Run mysql like this: "mysqld --skip-grant-tables".  +Please remember this makes mysql as secure as taping a $100 to the floor +of a football stadium bathroom for safekeeping.  Before you plan to +put Bugzilla up for general consumption, you REALLY need to become familiar +with MySQL +security. +

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 +of these permissions issues will make it into checksetup.pl. +
It is recommended that you closely examine permissions on your Bugzilla +installation. Make sure you are not running mysqld as root. Included is +one person's examination of their local Bugzilla installation, and how +they secured it: +

  I closed-up some of the all-writeable files +and directories. The code itself had to be modified to keep it from making +directories and files world-writeable again... Once this was done, I felt +confident that this install of bugzilla was running securely. (We don't +run ftp, and mysql doesn't run as root). The setup we have is that apache +runs as user 'nobody'. Directories being written into via CGI are therefore +owner.group==nobody.nobody and only read/writable by user nobody, not world-writeable +as before ... The *.cgi/*.pl/etc scripts (source) are owned by root.root +and we can prevent CGI execution and HTTPD reading of the scripts by doing +chmod go-rwx.... Finally, we prevent reading of the writeable directories +by HTTP. (The security of this could further be improved by running bugzilla +as user 'bugzilla' with same privs as 'nobody' but at least a different +user than the webserver). I did the following to secure our install: +
(1) cd /home/httpd/bugzilla ensure all files owned +root.root (other than ones in 'shadow' and 'data'). +
(2) chmod go-rwx backdoor.cgi ; chmod go-rwx *.sh +; chmod go-rwx printenv.cgi ; chmod go-rwx 0CGI.pl ; chmod go-rwx *~* ; +chown -R nobody.nobody data ; chmod -R go-rwx data ; chown -R nobody.nobody +shadow ; chmod -R go-rwx shadow +
(3) in emacs, in *.pl and *.cgi and processmail in +bugzilla dir +
(etags *.cgi *.pl processmail) ... do: (tags-query-replace +"umask 0" "umask 077" nil) +
(tags-query-replace "umask(0)" "umask(077)" nil) +
(tags-query-replace "0777" "0700" nil) +
(tags-query-replace "0666" "0600" nil) +
(4) re-enable bugzilla with /home/httpd/bug-track.conf +set to: +
-------------------- +
AddHandler cgi-script .cgi +
# +
# setup ExecCGI'able directory alias from which we +run +
# "bugzilla" under URL "bugs" +
# +
Alias /bugs/ "/home/httpd/bugzilla/" +
<Directory "/home/httpd/bugzilla"> +
Options Indexes ExecCGI +
AllowOverride None +
Order allow,deny +
Allow from all +
</Directory> +
-------------------- +
(5) add to /home/httpd/bug-track.conf (prevent cgi +from being +
written into data or shadow directories, and prevent +contents from +
being read): +

-------------------- +

<Directory "/home/httpd/bugzilla/data"> +
Options None +
AllowOverride None +
Deny from all +
</Directory> +

<Directory "/home/httpd/bugzilla/shadow"> +
Options None +
AllowOverride None +
Deny from all +
</Directory> +

-------------------- +

(6) I noticed that my non-superuser-$PATH had wound +up in apache's GGI +
environment... that $PATH included "." so that could +have been a security-exploit-in-waiting right there... so remember, when +restarting apache on servers, do (in tcsh anyways): +
unsetenv * +
prior to doing +
apachectl stop +
<wait> +
apachectl start +

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 +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 +/bin/sh script in /etc/init.d that starts mysqld." That should fix ulimit +problems with MySQL. +
  +

+

+EMAIL

+
+ +


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". +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 +email to anyone but me. How do I do it? +
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, +or other than, only new bugs. How do I do it? +
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 +to bugzilla. What else can I use? +
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 +bugs via email? +
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. +Procmail is included by default on most Linux distributions, and if you +use the bugzilla.procmailrc file as the .procmailrc for the user bugzilla +runs as, it works pretty quickly. +
My setup is a little different from the standard way of doing things. +Here's what I do: +

    +
  1. +cd (bugzilla_home, wherever that is)
  2. + +
  3. +chmod 775 contrib
  4. + +
  5. +chmod 644 contrib/*
  6. + +
  7. +chmod 755 contrib/*.pl
  8. + +
  9. +chmod 777 data
  10. + +
  11. +chmod -R 775 data/mimedump-tmp
  12. + +
  13. +chmod -R 775 data/mining
  14. + +
  15. +vi /etc/aliases: add  'bugs: | "/usr/bin/procmail -m /etc/procmailrcs/bugs"'
  16. + +
  17. +cp /usr/local/bugzilla/contrib/bugzilla.procmailrc /etc/procmailrcs/bugs
  18. + +
  19. +chmod 775 /etc/procmailrcs/bugs
  20. + +
  21. +And, in my case, since we use Linux-Mandrake most everywhere (which includes +some extra security options), I also had to "ln -s /usr/bin/procmail /etc/smrsh/procmail.  +smrsh is a way to prevent people from running any applications over Sendmail +unless you specify it in this directory.  YMMV.
  22. +
+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 -- +it's extremely slow. What gives? +
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" +option in the "processmail" script for every invocation of "sendmail". +(Be sure and leave the "-t" option, though!)  This option is put into +the code to handle the massive mail delivery load bugzilla.mozilla.org +gets -- but most of us don't need it.  We're lobbying to make it a +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 +gives? +
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". +
  +

+

+DATABASE

+
+Q: I've heard Bugzilla can be used with Oracle? +
A: Red Hat Bugzilla +works with Oracle.  The current mozilla.org version takes some work, +though. +

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", +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 +turn off the shadow database in editparams.cgi. If you wish to continue +using the shadow database, then as your "bugs" user run "./syncshadowdb +-syncall" from the command line in the bugzilla installation directory +to recreate your shadow database. After it finishes, be sure to check the +params and make sure that "queryagainstshadowdb" is still turned on. The +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 +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 +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. +How? +
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 +hate dealing with big SELECT statements and such, so I use "phpMyAdmin", +to do all my database administration. You have to compile a PHP module +with MySQL support to make it work, but it's very clean and easy to use.  +There are other utilities that work, as well, but I am lacking URL's. +

Q: MySQL GPL edition doesn't seem to work... +
A: Right! It doesn't! It's too old. Download the latest +tarball or rpm from www.mysql.com if +you want this to work. +

Q: I think I've set up MySQL permissions correctly, +but bugzilla still can't connect. +
A: Try running MySQL from it's 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 +different Bugzilla databases? +
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 +a working model with working code, that's 90% of the battle. +

Q:  I get bizarre errors when trying to submit data, +particularly problems with "groupset".  What gives? +
A:  If you're sure your MySQL parameters are correct, you might +want turn "strictvaluechecks" OFF in editparams.cgi.  If you have +"usebugsentry" set "On", you also cannot submit a bug as readable by more +than one group with "strictvaluechecks" ON. +

+


+
+

+BUGZILLA AND WINDOWS NT

+ +
or "Welcome to Microsoft, where we put the 'NT' in "CAN'T"!
+ +
+

Right now, running Bugzilla under Windows NT is an extremely hairy process. +I'll provide the instructions below, but please don't ask me how it's done +-- getting this working on NT involves a lot of patience, skill, and PFM +(Pure Fscking Magic). As far as I know, nobody has been able to get a recent +(2.8 or post) version of Bugzilla running on NT. If you know different, +or can provide updated instructions to those provided below, please email +Matthew +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 +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 +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 +IIS, you do this by adding *.cgi to the App Mappings with the <path>\perl.exe +%s %s as the executable. +
...or this tip from Microsoft's web site... +
"Set application mappings. In the ISM, map the extension for the script +file(s) to the executable for the script interpreter. For example, you +might map the extension .py to Python.exe, the executable for the Python +script interpreter. Note For the ActiveState Perl script interpreter, the +extension .pl is associated with PerlIS.dll by default. If you want to +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 +this work? +
A: Sure. Your Mileage May Vary. Contact Andrew +Lahser  for the patches mentioned. He may decide to kill me for +saying that, though... +

    +
  1. +#!C:/perl/bin/perl had to be added to every perl file.
  2. + +
  3. +Converted to Net::SMTP to handle mail messages instead of /usr/bin/sendmail.
  4. + +
  5. +The crypt function isn't available on Windows NT (at least none that I +am aware), so I made encrypted passwords = plaintext passwords.
  6. + +
  7. +The system call to diff had to be changed to the Cygwin diff.
  8. + +
  9. +This was just to get a demo running under NT, it seems to be working good, +and I have inserted almost 100 bugs from another bug tracking system. Since +this work was done just to get an in-house demo, I am NOT planning on making +a patch for submission to Bugzilla. If you would like a zip file, let me +know.
  10. +
+Q: Hmm, couldn't figure it out from the general instructions +above.  How about step-by-step? +
A: Sure! Here ya go! +
    +
  1. +Install IIS 4.0 from the NT Option Pack #4.
  2. + +
  3. +Download and install Active Perl.
  4. + +
  5. +Install the Windows GNU tools from Cygwin. Make sure to add the bin directory +to your system path. (Everyone should have these, whether they decide to +use Bugzilla or not. :-) )
  6. + +
  7. +Download relevant packages from ActiveState at http://www.activestate.com/packages/zips/. ++ DBD-Mysql.zip
  8. + +
  9. +Extract each zip file with WinZip, and install each ppd file using the +notation: ppm install <module>.ppd
  10. + +
  11. +Install Mysql.  *Note: If you move the default install from c:\mysql, +you must add the appropriate startup parameters to the NT service. (ex. +-b e:\\programs\\mysql)
  12. + +
  13. +Download any Mysql client. http://www.mysql.com/download_win.html
  14. + +
  15. +Setup MySql. (These are the commands that I used.)
  16. + +
        +
      I. Cleanup default database settings. +
       C:\mysql\bin\mysql -u root mysql +
       mysql> DELETE FROM user WHERE Host='localhost' AND User=''; +
       mysql> quit +
      C:\mysql\bin\mysqladmin reload +

      II. Set password for root. +
       C:\mysql\bin\mysql -u root mysql +
       mysql> UPDATE user SET Password=PASSWORD('new_password') +
       WHERE user='root'; +
       mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES; +
       mysql> quit +
       C:\mysql\bin\mysqladmin -u root reload +

      III. Create bugs user. +
       C:\mysql\bin\mysql -u root -p +
       mysql> insert into user (host,user,password) values('localhost','bugs',''); +
       mysql> quit +
       C:\mysql\bin\mysqladmin -u root reload +

      IV. Create the bugs database. +
       C:\mysql\bin\mysql -u root -p +
       mysql> create database bugs; +

      V. Give the bugs user access to the bugs database. +
       mysql> insert into db (host,db,user,select_priv,insert_priv,update_priv,delete_priv,create_priv,drop_priv) +values('localhost','bugs','bugs','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','N') +
       mysql> quit +
       C:\mysql\bin\mysqladmin -u root reload

    + +
  17. +Run the table scripts to setup the bugs database.
  18. + +
  19. +Change CGI.pm to use the following regular expression because of differing +backslashes in NT versus UNIX.
  20. + + + +
  21. +Had to make the crypt password = plain text password in the database. (Thanks +to Andrew Lahser" <andrew_lahser@merck.com>" on this one.) The files +that I changed were:
  22. + + + +
  23. +Replaced sendmail with Windmail. Basically, you have to come up with a +sendmail substitute for NT. Someone said that they used a Perl module (Net::SMTP), +but I was trying to save time and do as little Perl coding as possible.
  24. + +
  25. +Added "perl" to the beginning of all Perl system calls that use a perl +script as an argument and renamed processmail to processmail.pl.
  26. + +
  27. +In processmail.pl, I added binmode(HANDLE) before all read() calls. I'm +not sure about this one, but the read() under NT wasn't counting the EOLs +without the binary read."
  28. +
+Q: I'm having trouble with the perl modules for NT not +being able to talk to to the database... +
A: Your modules may be outdated or inaccurate... +
    +
  1. +Try hitting http://www.activestate.com/ActivePerl
  2. + +
  3. +Download ActivePerl from there.
  4. + +
    After that: +
  5. +go to your prompt
  6. + +
  7. +type 'ppm'
  8. + +
  9. +PPM> install DBI DBD-mysql GD
  10. +
+I reckon TimeDate and Data::Dumper come with the activeperl. You can check +the ActiveState site for packages for installation through PPM. [http://www.activestate.com/Packages/] +

+


+
+

+BUGZILLA USE

+ +
or "Keyboard: Device used for entering errors into computer"
+ +
+

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 +site? +
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 +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 +considerable discussion on the mailing list and in the bug database. There +is a patch +for this, and a lot of talk. Tara has this to say: +

"I think I put this in the main bug itself, but I have to admit +I *really* don't like the whole "accept" thing at this point. I especially +am completely against anything that changes the current functionality, +and am only moderately placated by the idea of seperate additional functionality. +IMHO Bugzilla is getting so kludgy that all we're doing is making things +harder and harder to understand and maintain, not to mention adding additional +fields to an already almost overwhelming query form. For now I'm going +to have to make people who want this suffer through sharing patches until +I come up with a course of action on it."
+ +


Q:  How do I enable voting? +
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 +or a browser that is incompatible with file upload via POST.  Download +the latest Netscape or Microsoft browser to handle uploads correctly. +
  +

+


+
+

+BUGZILLA KNOWN BUGS

+ +
or "These are all 'known bugs'. Whats the frickin' problem?"
+ +
+

QWhat 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. +

QGroups 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 +than a number? +
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.  +Someone needs to pick up the ball and run with "target milestone" so it +has the following features: +

+Q:  Why shouldn't I delete bugs? +
A:  If you allow bug deletion, you run the risk of screwing +up dependencies in your database.  While these aren't always critical, +it's sometimes tought to repair.  I recommend you do not allow bug +deletion. +
  +
  +

+


+
+

+BUGZILLA HACKING

+ +
or "Who's this General Failure guy, and why is he trying to read +my hard drive?"
+ +
+

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 +supposed to be in charge of this stuff... +
I say, if you have a patch that is a bug fix or feature enhancement, +log a bug and attach the patch.  I've inherited almost 300 bugs from +the ownership transition, so I can't guarantee how soon I'll get to it, +but I'm steadily working my way through the bug list and trying to pay +special attention to all bugs that do come with patches. Secondly, if you'd +like faster feedback or better exposure, I'd post the bug number URL to +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 +
don't lose track of your patch, so this makes it easier for me."
+Q:  What does the above mean for me when I want to +submit a bug? +
A:  Follow this procedure: +
    +
  1. +Enter +a bug into bugzilla.mozilla.org for the "Webtools" product, "Bugzilla" +component.
  2. + +
  3. +Upload your patch as a unified DIFF (or new source file) by clicking "Create +a new attachment" link on the bug page you've just created, and include +any descriptions of database changes you may make, into the bug ID you +submitted in step #1.
  4. + +
  5. +Announce your patch and the associated URL (http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=XXXX) +for discussion in the newsgroup +(netscape.public/mozilla.webtools).  You'll get a really good, fairly +immediate reaction to the implications of your patch, which will also give +Tara an idea how well-received the change would be.
  6. + +
  7. +If it passes muster with minimal modification, Tara will put it into CVS.  +If you submit enough really good patches (I have no idea how much "enough" +is), you may be granted CVS write access.
  8. + +
  9. +Bask in the glory of the fact that YOU helped write the most successful +open-source bug-tracking software on the planet :)
  10. +
+ +
+

+API

+
+QI want to add a new form or module to Bugzilla.  +Where can I find API documention? +
A:  Right now, there really is none.  I plan on writing copious +documentation for what each file and module does, as well how to program +new .cgi's to use the functionality and present alternate interfaces. +

CGI scripts: +

+PM/pl modules: + +HTML: + + +


Q: What are the most-needed features? +
A:  Check out the Bugzilla Development Roadmap at +http://www.mozilla.org/projects/bugzilla/roadmap.html +

+


+
+

+TINDERBOX

+ +
or "Friendly Fire... isn't"
+ +
+
I don't use it yet -- anybody have good FAQ's for this area? +

+


+
+

+BONSAI

+ +
or "I like to climb trees and eat peanut butter with a spatula +while singing operas."
+ +
+
Same as Tinderbox. But these are still part of webtools, so they need +to be here for completeness. +

+


+
+

+MAINTAINER & THIS DOCUMENT

+ +
+

Q:  Why do you use this antiquated format for maintaining +the FAQ, instead of FAQ-O-Matic or (insert cool FAQ program here) +
A:  I'm actively seeking a better way to maintain +this.  It's easily maintainable in it's current form, but as it grows +it will become much less so.  I'm interested in more options, but +don't want to lose control of the FAQ or be subjected to a page that's +a nest of hyperlinks and unprintable.  The FAQ-O-Matic tends to create +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 +for Excite@Home E-Business Services +and +part-time Bugzilla hacker :) +

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 +what I'd written for internal documentation with more general questions +and release it to the public under the MPL.  I feel like the Mozilla +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. +

QHow are you affiliated with Mozilla.org? +
A:  I'm not. +

QWhere do those lame quotes in each section +heading come from? +
A:  Check out http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/data/comments.  +These are random quips added by people who use bugzilla.  I find them +endlessly entertaining. +
  I am personally attempting to address the numerous documentation +needs, including an Installation guide (based upon the README), Administration +Guide, Troubleshooting guide, Database Management Guide, and Configuration +Guide. +
  +

+


+
+

+THE END

+ +
+ + -- cgit v1.2.3-24-g4f1b