write a ticket

This guide explains how to write a ticket in the OpenSAF ticket system. If you don't yet have write permissions to the ticket system, first read the [get involved] page for instruction on how to get this.

Before writing a ticket, you should search for existing tickets on the same issue, to avoid writing a duplicate ticket. Also, when writing a bug report, you should check the downloads section to make sure you are using the latest version of OpenSAF. Otherwise it may be that the bug has already been fixed in a newer version than the one you are using. If you are not totally sure that the problem you have found is a bug in OpenSAF, you should first post a question on the OpenSAF users mailing list.

If you have seen several problems, you should normally write one separate bug report for each problem. This makes it easier to track them. Enhancement tickets can sometimes be more generic, e.g. "refactor the code".

Notes: A ticket's status is at the discretion of the maintainer of that service. However, whenever appropriate or referred-to, the TLC shall intervene to discuss the future course of a ticket.
When you are not sure of the behaviour/problem, check with the maintainer first before raising a ticket.
You can re-open a closed ticket only after the consent of the maintainer.

Detailed description of the ticket fields

Type |
---- | -------
defect | Observed behaviour differs from expected behaviour
enhancement | Request for new feature or changed behaviour
discussion | Discussion of a specific topic

There are two main types of tickets: defect tickets and enhancement tickets. Write a defect ticket when you have found something that you think is a bug in OpenSAF. If you on the other hand are requesting a new feature, you should write an enhancement ticket.

Component |
--------- | -------
unknown | Affected OpenSAF component not know
(any other choice) | The OpenSAF component the fault or feature request is reported on

If you think know which component is affected by the ticket, then select the component here. Otherwise, select the unknown component.

Part |
---- | -------
- | Part of service not known / not specified
tools | Command-line tool, e.g. amf-state
doc | Documentation, e.g. OpenSAF_AMF_PR.odt
tests | Component test, e.g. immoitest
samples | Sample program, e.g. amf_demo
d | Service director
nd | Service node director

In addition to the name of the Component, you can also select a particular Part of the component.

Version |
------- | -------
The OpenSAF release where the fault was observed, e.g. 4.3.1 or 4.5.FC

When writing a defect ticket, fill in the version of OpenSAF that you were using when you discovered the bug. Leave this field empty for enhancement tickets.

Priority |
-------- | -------
critical | A showstopper kind of fault, that must be fixed before we make a new release
major | A serious fault, or a large new feature
minor | A not so serious fault, or a small new feature

When deciding the priority for a defect ticket, it can be helpful to ask yourself two questions: 1) How serious are the consequences of the fault (i.e. cluster restart, node restart, core dump)?, and 2) How likely is the fault to happen? The priority for the ticket should reflect the answers to both these questions.

Title |
----- | -------
Component name followed by a short and descriptive slogan for your ticket.

The title should begin with the name of the component (same name as you selected in the Component field above, unless you selected the unknown component in which case you leave it out here). Follow the component name with a colon, then a space, and finally the ticket slogan.

Description |
----------- | -------
Detailed description text for the defect / enhancement

Here is a template that you can use when writing a defect ticket description text:

Steps to reproduce
------------------
Describe the steps needed to reproduce the fault

Observed behaviour
------------------
Describe how the system behaved

Expected behaviour
------------------
How did you expect the system to behave?

Error messages
------------------
Cut and paste from e.g. syslog

Environment details
------------------
OS version you are using, 32-bit / 64-bit, build time options (passed to the
./configure script), any changes you have made to the OpenSAF run-time configuration,
etc.