The Bugzilla Guide

Matthew P. Barnson

barnboy@trilobyte.net

Zach Lipton

zach AT zachlipton DOT com


Revision History
Revision v2.1120 December 2000Revised by: MPB
Converted the README, FAQ, and DATABASE information into SGML docbook format.
Revision 2.11.106 March 2001Revised by: MPB
Took way too long to revise this for 2.12 release. Updated FAQ to use qandaset tags instead of literallayout, cleaned up administration section, added User Guide section, miscellaneous FAQ updates and third-party integration information. From this point on all new tags are lowercase in preparation for the 2.13 release of the Guide in XML format instead of SGML.
Revision 2.12.024 April 2001Revised by: MPB
Things fixed this release: Elaborated on queryhelp interface, added FAQ regarding moving bugs from one keyword to another, clarified possible problems with the Landfill tutorial, fixed a boatload of typos and unclear sentence structures. Incorporated the README into the UNIX installation section, and changed the README to indicate the deprecated status. Things I know need work: Used "simplelist" a lot, where I should have used "procedure" to tag things. Need to lowercase all tags to be XML compliant.
Revision 2.14.007 August 2001Revised by: MPB
Attempted to integrate relevant portions of the UNIX and Windows installation instructions, moved some data from FAQ to Install, removed references to README from text, added Mac OS X install instructions, fixed a bunch of tpyos (Mark Harig), linked text that referenced other parts of the Guide, and nuked the old MySQL permissions section.

This is the documentation for Bugzilla, the Mozilla bug-tracking system.

Bugzilla is an enterprise-class set of software utilities that, when used together, power issue-tracking for hundreds of organizations around the world, tracking millions of bugs. While it is easy to use and quite flexible, it is very difficult for a novice to install and maintain. Although we have provided step-by-step directions, Bugzilla is not always easy to get working. Please be sure the person responsible for installing and maintaining this software is a qualified professional on operating system upon which you install Bugzilla.

THIS DOCUMENTATION IS MAINTAINED IN DOCBOOK 4.1 SGML FORMAT. IF YOU WISH TO MAKE CORRECTIONS, PLEASE MAKE THEM IN PLAIN TEXT OR SGML DIFFS AGAINST THE SOURCE. I CANNOT ACCEPT ADDITIONS TO THE GUIDE WRITTEN IN HTML!


Table of Contents
1. About This Guide
1.1. Purpose and Scope of this Guide
1.2. Copyright Information
1.3. Disclaimer
1.4. New Versions
1.5. Credits
1.6. Contributors
1.7. Feedback
1.8. Translations
1.9. Document Conventions
2. Using Bugzilla
2.1. What is Bugzilla?
2.2. Why Should We Use Bugzilla?
2.3. How do I use Bugzilla?
2.3.1. Create a Bugzilla Account
2.3.2. The Bugzilla Query Page
2.3.3. Creating and Managing Bug Reports
2.3.3.1. Writing a Great Bug Report
2.3.3.2. Managing your Bug Reports
2.4. Where can I find my user preferences?
2.4.1. Account Settings
2.4.2. Email Settings
2.4.2.1. Email Notification
2.4.2.2. New Email Technology
2.4.2.3. "Watching" Users
2.4.3. Page Footer
2.4.4. Permissions
2.5. Using Bugzilla-Conclusion
3. Installation
3.1. ERRATA
3.2. Step-by-step Install
3.2.1. Introduction
3.2.2. Installing the Prerequisites
3.2.3. Installing MySQL Database
3.2.4. Perl (5.004 or greater)
3.2.5. DBI Perl Module
3.2.6. Data::Dumper Perl Module
3.2.7. MySQL related Perl Module Collection
3.2.8. TimeDate Perl Module Collection
3.2.9. GD Perl Module (1.8.3)
3.2.10. Chart::Base Perl Module (0.99c)
3.2.11. DB_File Perl Module
3.2.12. HTTP Server
3.2.13. Installing the Bugzilla Files
3.2.14. Setting Up the MySQL Database
3.2.15. Tweaking localconfig
3.2.16. Setting Up Maintainers Manually (Optional)
3.2.17. The Whining Cron (Optional)
3.2.18. Bug Graphs (Optional)
3.2.19. Securing MySQL
3.3. Mac OS X Installation Notes
3.4. BSD Installation Notes
3.5. Installation General Notes
3.5.1. Modifying Your Running System
3.5.2. Upgrading From Previous Versions
3.5.3. .htaccess files and security
3.5.4. mod_throttle and Security
3.5.5. Preventing untrusted Bugzilla content from executing malicious Javascript code
3.5.6. UNIX Installation Instructions History
3.6. Win32 Installation Notes
3.6.1. Win32 Installation: Step-by-step
3.6.2. Additional Windows Tips
3.6.3. Bugzilla LDAP Integration
4. Administering Bugzilla
4.1. Post-Installation Checklist
4.2. User Administration
4.2.1. Creating the Default User
4.2.2. Managing Other Users
4.2.2.1. Logging In
4.2.2.2. Creating new users
4.2.2.3. Disabling Users
4.2.2.4. Modifying Users
4.3. Product, Component, Milestone, and Version Administration
4.3.1. Products
4.3.2. Components
4.3.3. Versions
4.3.4. Milestones
4.3.5. Voting
4.3.6. Groups and Group Security
4.4. Bugzilla Security
5. Integrating Bugzilla with Third-Party Tools
5.1. Bonsai
5.2. CVS
5.3. Perforce SCM
5.4. Tinderbox/Tinderbox2
6. The Future of Bugzilla
7. Bugzilla Variants and Competitors
7.1. Red Hat Bugzilla
7.2. Loki Bugzilla (Fenris)
7.3. Issuezilla
7.4. Scarab
7.5. Perforce SCM
7.6. SourceForge
A. The Bugzilla FAQ
B. Software Download Links
C. The Bugzilla Database
C.1. Database Schema Chart
C.2. MySQL Bugzilla Database Introduction
C.2.1. Bugzilla Database Basics
C.2.1.1. Bugzilla Database Tables
C.3. MySQL Permissions & Grant Tables
D. Useful Patches and Utilities for Bugzilla
D.1. Apache mod_rewrite magic
D.2. The setperl.csh Utility
D.3. Command-line Bugzilla Queries
D.4. The Quicksearch Utility
D.5. Hacking Bugzilla
D.5.1. Things that have caused problems and should be avoided
D.5.2. Coding Style for Bugzilla
E. GNU Free Documentation License
0. PREAMBLE
1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS
2. VERBATIM COPYING
3. COPYING IN QUANTITY
4. MODIFICATIONS
5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS
6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS
7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS
8. TRANSLATION
9. TERMINATION
10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE
How to use this License for your documents
Glossary
List of Examples
2-1. Some Famous Software Versions
2-2. Mozilla's Bugzilla Components
3-1. Setting up bonsaitools symlink
3-2. Running checksetup.pl as the web user
3-3. Installing ActivePerl ppd Modules on Microsoft Windows
3-4. Removing encrypt() for Windows NT Bugzilla version 2.12 or earlier
4-1. Creating some Components
4-2. Common Use of Versions
4-3. A Different Use of Versions
4-4. Using SortKey with Target Milestone
4-5. When to Use Group Security
4-6. Creating a New Group
4-7. Bugzilla Groups
D-1. Using Setperl to set your perl path
1. A Sample Product