User:Wwoods/Debugging Guide

This page is a draft only
It is still under construction and content may change. Do not rely on the information on this page.

"Something broke. How do I fix it?"

Tracing the source of the problem

First, gather information. You need to figure out what broke.

• Check bugzilla
  • Check upstream trackers too!
• Check your log files
• See if you can reproduce the problem
• Get a backtrace
  • Python backtraces
  • Installing debuginfo

Finding the problem in the source

Getting the exact source of the package

• Packages you'll need installed
• Downloading the SRPM
• Using package CVS

Creating and testing patches

• Using gendiff
• Add the patch to the spec
• Rebuild the package
  • Bump the dist tag
• Install the new package
• Attempt to reproduce the problem

Submitting the patch

• Be sure to mention which package version you used