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= What are you looking to do? =
= What are you looking to do? =


Whether you are looking to test a [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases?rd=Releases/ stable release], new packages from [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA:Updates_Testing updates-testing], or the bleeding edge[http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/Rawhide Rawhide], QA has a way for you to contribute and get involved! We need people who like to push all the buttons, use all the command line options, verify all the documentation, review things for usability, and suggest future features - especially for anything that's undergone major changes recently. <!-- it would be great to have a link for anything that has undergone changes. This could be bodhi or something, I hesititate to make or request another tracking tool - unless we need a consolidated change tracker -->
Whether you are looking to test a [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases?rd=Releases/ stable release], new packages from [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA:Updates_Testing updates-testing], or the bleeding edge [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/Rawhide Rawhide], QA has a way for you to contribute and get involved! We need people who like to push all the buttons, use all the command line options, verify all the documentation, review things for usability, and suggest future features - especially for anything that's undergone major changes recently. <!-- it would be great to have a link for anything that has undergone changes. This could be bodhi or something, I hesititate to make or request another tracking tool - unless we need a consolidated change tracker -->


If you want to:
If you want to:

Revision as of 17:04, 2 January 2014

QA.png



Welcome!

This page outlines all the activities you can get involved in to help with Fedora QA and is meant to guide you through the QA ecosystem. It's easy to get involved and we love to welcome people to the group! The first thing you probably want to do is get plugged in to all the right sources of information for Fedora QA.

At the very least, it involves these three things:

What are you looking to do?

Whether you are looking to test a stable release, new packages from updates-testing, or the bleeding edge Rawhide, QA has a way for you to contribute and get involved! We need people who like to push all the buttons, use all the command line options, verify all the documentation, review things for usability, and suggest future features - especially for anything that's undergone major changes recently.

If you want to:

For all of those tasks, it would be good to have some familiarity with our Bugzilla instance. A lot of contribution to Fedora QA comes through bug reports. All you need is a Bugzilla account: create your account. Our bug reporting practices provide some good background for filing bugs. If you want to discuss the bugs before reporting, QA members can be found on the test mailing list and the #fedora-qa[?] IRC channel.

Triaging and managing bugs

Once bugs are reported, QA should make sure they are addressed by the right people and don't get stuck in the process. The BugZappers group was responsible for triaging bugs - ensuring they are complete and accurate reports, and assigning them to the right developers. That group is currently inactive, but we would welcome someone with the enthusiasm to rejuvenate the bug triage process under the QA banner.

Testing official updates before they are released

Another easy way to contribute to Fedora QA is to help test official updates for stable Fedora releases before they're released. See QA:Updates Testing for instructions on how to test and report issues with these updates.

Release validation

The QA group co-ordinates planned testing of the installation process and basic functionality before each Fedora release and pre-release is made, to ensure they reach certain standards known as the Fedora_Release_Criteria. See the installation validation testing and desktop validation testing pages for more information on these processes and how you can contribute to them. Also look out for mails to the list that announce 'TC' and 'RC' builds for testing - these mails contain instructions.

Testing Fedora pre-releases

Before an official Fedora release comes out, Alpha and Beta builds - known collectively as pre-releases - are made available. You can contribute by installing these pre-releases and testing them, just as you would a stable release. If you keep running the pre-release and installing updates regularly, you can also help test the release as it is developed, and provide karma for candidate packages for the eventual release just as you can with candidate updates for stable releases - see the earlier section. For information on getting and installing pre-releases, see this page. Report any issues you find to Bugzilla, following the instructions at BugsAndFeatureRequests.

Testing Rawhide

Rawhide is the development version of Fedora. Running Rawhide isn't for everyone, but for moderately experienced users who have a spare test system available or can run it in a virtual machine, testing Rawhide is a great way to contribute to ensuring future releases will be high quality. See Rawhide page for instructions on how to install or upgrade to, and test. You can test Rawhide without ever needing to install it by using the nightly live builds.

Creating test cases

As well as simply keeping a look out for problems, the QA group develops structured test cases and test plans. See the Category:Test Cases and Category:Test Plans pages for information on the test cases currently available. The test case creation process will tell you how to create test cases.

Developing tools

Some members of the Fedora QA team are involved in developing and maintaining tools to help make testing more efficient. Some of the tools we wrote that are already in use (but under constant development!) include AutoQA, python-bugzilla and the blocker bug tracking web app. We also use Bodhi, Bugzilla and fedora-easy-karma. Tool development is a great way to apply engineering skills to QA. Contact Tim Flink if you'd like to get involved with building tools for Fedora QA.

Details

Introduce yourself and join the team!

Before getting stuck in, why not introduce yourself? It's not compulsory, but we like to say "hi!" to new members. Just subscribe to the test mailing list and send a mail with a topic like "Self-introduction: (Your Name)". Just say that you're interested in helping with QA, include your IRC nickname if you have one, and, if you like, include some information on your Fedora / Linux background. Here's an example mail.

Reporting bugs in Fedora releases

Many people are already involved in Fedora QA, just by reporting problems as you do your regular tasks on Fedora. All you need is a Bugzilla account: create your account. Reporting Fedora bugs as you come across them is a big contribution! We provide some suggestions on reporting bugs. If you want to discuss the bugs before reporting them, we can be found on the test mailing list and the #fedora-qa[?] IRC channel.

Joining Test Days

The Fedora QA group holds regular Test Days, where we get together on IRC and test a specific aspect of Fedora, often with the involvement of a developer who works in that area. See the Test Days page for more information on when and where these are held, and how to join in or even schedule one of your own.