blob: ad709e4ccb7cf5b6b8f5d6f424ee85fe0b716a5b [file] [log] [blame]
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -07001[Some of this is taken from Frohwalt Egerer's original linux-kernel FAQ]
2
Sarah Sharp3b12c212013-04-13 17:55:18 -07003What follows is a suggested procedure for reporting Linux bugs. You aren't
4obliged to use the bug reporting format, it is provided as a guide to the
5kind of information that can be useful to developers - no more.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -07006
Sarah Sharp3b12c212013-04-13 17:55:18 -07007If the failure includes an "OOPS:" type message in your log or on screen
8please read "Documentation/oops-tracing.txt" before posting your bug
9report. This explains what you should do with the "Oops" information to
10make it useful to the recipient.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070011
Sarah Sharp3b12c212013-04-13 17:55:18 -070012Send the output to the maintainer of the kernel area that seems to be
13involved with the problem, and cc the relevant mailing list. Don't worry
14too much about getting the wrong person. If you are unsure send it to the
15person responsible for the code relevant to what you were doing. If it
16occurs repeatably try and describe how to recreate it. That is worth even
17more than the oops itself. The list of maintainers and mailing lists is
18in the MAINTAINERS file in this directory. If you know the file name that
19causes the problem you can use the following command in this directory to
20find some of the maintainers of that file:
21
Joe Perches503f7942009-08-18 14:11:18 -070022 perl scripts/get_maintainer.pl -f <filename>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070023
Sarah Sharp3b12c212013-04-13 17:55:18 -070024If it is a security bug, please copy the Security Contact listed in the
25MAINTAINERS file. They can help coordinate bugfix and disclosure. See
26Documentation/SecurityBugs for more information.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070027
Sarah Sharp3b12c212013-04-13 17:55:18 -070028If you are totally stumped as to whom to send the report, send it to
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070029linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org. (For more information on the linux-kernel
30mailing list see http://www.tux.org/lkml/).
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Tobias Klauser9dcbb322005-09-10 00:26:58 -070032This is a suggested format for a bug report sent to the Linux kernel mailing
33list. Having a standardized bug report form makes it easier for you not to
34overlook things, and easier for the developers to find the pieces of
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070035information they're really interested in. Don't feel you have to follow it.
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Sarah Sharp3b12c212013-04-13 17:55:18 -070037First run the ver_linux script included as scripts/ver_linux, which
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070038reports the version of some important subsystems. Run this script with
39the command "sh scripts/ver_linux".
40
41Use that information to fill in all fields of the bug report form, and
42post it to the mailing list with a subject of "PROBLEM: <one line
Tobias Klauser9dcbb322005-09-10 00:26:58 -070043summary from [1.]>" for easy identification by the developers.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070044
Tobias Klauser9dcbb322005-09-10 00:26:58 -070045[1.] One line summary of the problem:
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070046[2.] Full description of the problem/report:
47[3.] Keywords (i.e., modules, networking, kernel):
Randy Dunlap4e229be2006-12-06 20:39:14 -080048[4.] Kernel information
49[4.1.] Kernel version (from /proc/version):
50[4.2.] Kernel .config file:
Andrew Morton30e835e2005-08-05 11:59:32 -070051[5.] Most recent kernel version which did not have the bug:
52[6.] Output of Oops.. message (if applicable) with symbolic information
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070053 resolved (see Documentation/oops-tracing.txt)
Andrew Morton30e835e2005-08-05 11:59:32 -070054[7.] A small shell script or example program which triggers the
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070055 problem (if possible)
Andrew Morton30e835e2005-08-05 11:59:32 -070056[8.] Environment
57[8.1.] Software (add the output of the ver_linux script here)
58[8.2.] Processor information (from /proc/cpuinfo):
59[8.3.] Module information (from /proc/modules):
60[8.4.] Loaded driver and hardware information (/proc/ioports, /proc/iomem)
61[8.5.] PCI information ('lspci -vvv' as root)
62[8.6.] SCSI information (from /proc/scsi/scsi)
63[8.7.] Other information that might be relevant to the problem
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070064 (please look in /proc and include all information that you
65 think to be relevant):
66[X.] Other notes, patches, fixes, workarounds:
67
68
69Thank you