aboutsummaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/docs/sgml/faq.sgml
blob: 3bf11f498422ccacf95a560e48201974c4e6a5b2 (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
1001
1002
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007
1008
1009
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
1020
1021
1022
1023
1024
1025
1026
1027
1028
1029
1030
1031
1032
1033
1034
1035
1036
1037
1038
1039
1040
1041
1042
1043
1044
1045
1046
1047
1048
1049
1050
1051
1052
1053
1054
1055
1056
1057
1058
1059
1060
1061
1062
1063
1064
1065
1066
1067
1068
1069
1070
1071
1072
1073
1074
1075
1076
1077
1078
1079
1080
1081
1082
1083
1084
1085
1086
1087
1088
1089
1090
1091
1092
1093
1094
1095
1096
1097
1098
1099
1100
1101
1102
1103
1104
1105
1106
1107
1108
1109
1110
1111
1112
1113
1114
1115
1116
1117
1118
1119
1120
1121
1122
1123
1124
1125
1126
1127
1128
1129
1130
1131
1132
1133
1134
1135
1136
1137
1138
1139
1140
1141
1142
1143
1144
1145
1146
1147
1148
1149
1150
1151
1152
1153
1154
1155
1156
1157
1158
1159
1160
1161
1162
1163
1164
1165
1166
1167
1168
1169
1170
1171
1172
1173
1174
1175
1176
1177
1178
1179
1180
1181
1182
1183
1184
1185
1186
1187
1188
1189
1190
1191
1192
1193
1194
1195
1196
1197
1198
1199
1200
1201
1202
1203
1204
1205
1206
1207
1208
1209
1210
1211
1212
1213
1214
1215
1216
1217
1218
1219
1220
1221
1222
1223
1224
1225
1226
1227
1228
1229
1230
1231
1232
1233
1234
1235
1236
1237
1238
1239
1240
1241
1242
1243
1244
1245
1246
1247
1248
1249
1250
1251
1252
1253
1254
1255
1256
1257
1258
1259
1260
1261
1262
1263
1264
1265
1266
1267
1268
1269
1270
1271
1272
1273
1274
1275
1276
1277
1278
1279
1280
1281
1282
1283
1284
1285
1286
1287
1288
1289
1290
1291
1292
1293
1294
1295
1296
1297
1298
1299
1300
1301
1302
1303
1304
1305
1306
1307
1308
1309
1310
1311
1312
1313
1314
1315
1316
1317
1318
1319
1320
1321
1322
1323
1324
1325
1326
1327
1328
1329
1330
1331
1332
1333
1334
1335
1336
1337
1338
1339
1340
1341
1342
1343
1344
1345
1346
1347
1348
1349
1350
1351
1352
1353
1354
1355
1356
1357
1358
1359
1360
1361
1362
1363
1364
1365
1366
1367
1368
1369
1370
1371
1372
1373
1374
1375
1376
1377
1378
1379
1380
1381
1382
1383
1384
1385
1386
1387
1388
1389
1390
1391
1392
1393
1394
1395
1396
1397
1398
1399
1400
1401
1402
1403
1404
1405
1406
1407
1408
1409
1410
1411
1412
1413
1414
1415
1416
1417
1418
1419
1420
1421
1422
1423
1424
1425
1426
1427
1428
1429
1430
1431
1432
1433
1434
1435
1436
1437
1438
1439
1440
1441
1442
1443
1444
1445
1446
1447
1448
1449
1450
1451
1452
1453
1454
1455
1456
1457
1458
1459
1460
1461
1462
1463
1464
1465
1466
1467
1468
1469
1470
1471
1472
1473
1474
1475
1476
1477
1478
1479
1480
1481
1482
1483
1484
1485
1486
1487
1488
1489
1490
1491
1492
1493
1494
1495
1496
1497
1498
1499
1500
1501
1502
1503
1504
1505
1506
1507
1508
1509
1510
1511
1512
1513
1514
1515
1516
1517
1518
1519
1520
1521
1522
1523
1524
1525
1526
1527
1528
1529
1530
1531
1532
1533
1534
1535
1536
1537
1538
1539
1540
1541
1542
1543
1544
1545
1546
1547
1548
1549
1550
1551
1552
1553
1554
1555
1556
1557
1558
1559
1560
1561
1562
1563
1564
1565
1566
1567
1568
1569
1570
1571
1572
1573
1574
1575
1576
1577
1578
1579
1580
1581
1582
1583
1584
1585
1586
1587
1588
1589
1590
1591
1592
1593
1594
1595
1596
1597
1598
1599
1600
1601
1602
1603
1604
1605
1606
1607
1608
1609
1610
1611
1612
1613
1614
1615
1616
1617
1618
1619
1620
1621
1622
1623
1624
1625
1626
1627
1628
1629
1630
1631
1632
1633
1634
1635
1636
1637
1638
1639
1640
1641
1642
1643
1644
1645
1646
1647
1648
1649
1650
1651
1652
1653
1654
1655
1656
1657
1658
1659
1660
1661
1662
1663
1664
1665
1666
1667
1668
1669
1670
1671
1672
1673
1674
1675
1676
1677
1678
1679
1680
1681
1682
1683
1684
1685
1686
1687
1688
1689
1690
1691
1692
1693
1694
1695
1696
1697
1698
1699
1700
1701
1702
1703
1704
1705
1706
1707
1708
1709
1710
1711
1712
1713
1714
1715
1716
1717
1718
1719
1720
1721
1722
1723
1724
1725
1726
1727
1728
1729
1730
1731
1732
1733
1734
1735
1736
1737
1738
1739
1740
1741
1742
1743
1744
1745
1746
1747
1748
1749
1750
1751
1752
1753
1754
1755
1756
1757
1758
1759
1760
1761
1762
1763
1764
1765
1766
1767
1768
1769
1770
1771
1772
1773
1774
1775
1776
1777
1778
1779
1780
1781
1782
1783
1784
1785
1786
1787
1788
1789
1790
1791
1792
1793
1794
1795
1796
1797
1798
1799
1800
1801
1802
1803
1804
1805
1806
1807
1808
1809
1810
1811
1812
1813
1814
1815
1816
1817
1818
1819
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835
1836
1837
1838
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1887
<!-- <!DOCTYPE appendix PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V4.1//EN"> -->

<appendix id="faq">
  <title>The Bugzilla FAQ</title>

  <qandaset>


    <qandadiv id="faq-general">
      <title>General Questions</title>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Where can I find information about Bugzilla?</para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    You can stay up-to-date with the latest Bugzilla
	    information at <ulink url="http://www.mozilla.org/projects/bugzilla/">
	    http://www.mozilla.org/projects/bugzilla/</ulink>
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    What license is Bugzilla distributed under?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Bugzilla is covered by the Mozilla Public License.
	    See details at <ulink url="http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/">
	    http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/</ulink>
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    How do I get commercial support for Bugzilla?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    <ulink url="http://www.collab.net/">www.collab.net</ulink> offers
	    Bugzilla as part of their standard offering to large projects.
	    They do have some minimum fees that are pretty hefty, and generally
	    aren't interested in small projects.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    There are several experienced
	    Bugzilla hackers on the mailing list/newsgroup who are willing
	    to whore themselves out for generous compensation.
	    Try sending a message to the mailing list asking for a volunteer.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    What major companies or projects are currently using Bugzilla
	    for bug-tracking?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    There are <emphasis>dozens</emphasis> of major comapanies with public
	    Bugzilla sites to track bugs in their products.  A few include:
	    <simplelist>
	      <member>Netscape/AOL</member>
	      <member>Mozilla.org</member>
	      <member>AtHome Corporation</member>
	      <member>Red Hat Software</member>
	      <member>Loki Entertainment Software</member>
	      <member>SuSe Corp</member>
	      <member>The Horde Project</member>
	      <member>The Eazel Project</member>
	      <member>AbiSource</member>
	      <member>Real Time Enterprises, Inc</member>
	      <member>Eggheads.org</member>
	      <member>Strata Software</member>
	      <member>RockLinux</member>
	      <member>Creative Labs (makers of SoundBlaster)</member>
	      <member>The Apache Foundation</member>
	      <member>The Gnome Foundation</member>
	      <member>Linux-Mandrake</member>
	    </simplelist>
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    Suffice to say, there are more than enough huge projects using Bugzilla
	    that we can safely say it's extremely popular.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Who maintains Bugzilla?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Bugzilla maintenance has been in a state of flux recently.
	    Please check <ulink
				    url="http://www.mozilla.org/projects/bugzilla/">the Bugzilla Project Page for the latest details. </ulink>
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    How does Bugzilla stack up against other bug-tracking databases?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    A year has gone by, and I <emphasis>still</emphasis> can't
	    find any head-to-head comparisons of Bugzilla against
	    other defect-tracking software.  However, from my personal
	    experience with other bug-trackers, Bugzilla offers
	    superior performance on commodity hardware, better price
	    (free!), more developer- friendly features (such as stored
	    queries, email integration, and platform independence),
	    improved scalability, open source code, greater
	    flexibility, and superior ease-of-use.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    If you happen to be a commercial bug-tracker vendor, please
	    step forward with a rebuttal so I can include it in the
	    FAQ.  We're not in pursuit of Bugzilla ueber alles; we
	    simply love having a powerful, open-source tool to get our
	    jobs done.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    How do I change my user name in Bugzilla?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    You can't.  However, the administrative account can, by simply opening
	    your user account in editusers.cgi and changing the login name.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Why doesn't Bugzilla offer this or that feature or compatability
	    with this other tracking software?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    It may be that the support has not been built yet, or that you
	    have not yet found it.  Bugzilla is making tremendous strides in
	    usability, customizability, scalability, and user interface.  It
	    is widely considered the most complete and popular open-source
	    bug-tracking software in existence.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    That doesn't mean it can't use improvement!
	    You can help the project along by either hacking a patch yourself
	    that supports the functionality you require, or else submitting a
	    "Request for Enhancement" (RFE) using the bug submission interface
	    at <ulink url="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/">bugzilla.mozilla.org</ulink>.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Why MySQL?  I'm interested in seeing Bugzilla run on
	    Oracle/Sybase/Msql/PostgreSQL/MSSQL?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>Terry Weissman answers,
	  <blockquote>
	    <para>
	      You're not the only one. But <emphasis>I</emphasis> am not very interested. I'm not
	      a real SQL or database person. I just wanted to make a useful tool,
	      and build it on top of free software. So, I picked MySQL, and
	      learned SQL by staring at the MySQL manual and some code lying
	      around here, and
	      wrote Bugzilla. I didn't know that Enum's were non-standard SQL.
	      I'm not sure if I would have cared, but I didn't even know. So, to
	      me, things are "portable" because it uses MySQL, and MySQL is
	      portable enough. I fully understand (now) that people want to be
	      portable to other databases, but that's never been a real concern
	      of mine.
	    </para>
	  </blockquote>
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    Things aren't quite that grim these days, however.  Terry pretty much
	    sums up much of the thinking many of us have for Bugzilla, but there
	    is light on the horizon for database-independence!  Here are some options:
	  </para>
	  <simplelist>
	    <member>
	      <emphasis><ulink url="http://bugzilla.redhat.com/">Red Hat Bugzilla</ulink></emphasis>:
	      Runs a modified Bugzilla 2.8 atop an Oracle database.
	    </member>
	    <member>
	      <emphasis><ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/projects/interzilla">Interzilla</ulink></emphasis>:
	      A project to run Bugzilla on Interbase.  No code released yet, however.
	    </member>
	    <member>
	      <emphasis>Bugzilla 3.0</emphasis>: One of the primary stated goals
	      is multiple database support.
	    </member>
	  </simplelist>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Why do the scripts say "/usr/bonsaitools/bin/perl" instead of
	    "/usr/bin/perl" or something else?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	     Mozilla.org uses /usr/bonsaitools/bin/perl. The prime rule in making
	    submissions is "don't break bugzilla.mozilla.org". If it breaks it, your
	    patch will be reverted faster than you can do a diff.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    Here's Terry Weissman's comment, for some historical context:
	    <blockquote>
	      <para>
		[This was] purely my own convention. I wanted a place to put a version of
		Perl and other tools that was strictly under my control for the
		various webtools, and not subject to anyone else. Edit it to point
		to whatever you like.
	      </para>
	      <note>
		<para>
		  We always recommend that, if possible, you keep the path
		  as /usr/bonsaitools/bin/perl, and simply add a /usr/bonsaitools
		  and /usr/bonsaitools/bin directory, then symlink your version
		  of perl to /usr/bonsaitools/bin/perl.  This will make upgrading
		  your Bugzilla much easier in the future.
		</para>
		<para>
		  Obviously, if you do not have root access to your Bugzilla
		  box, our suggestion is irrelevant.
		</para>
	      </note>
	    </blockquote>
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

    </qandadiv>


    <qandadiv id="faq-redhat">
      <title>Red Hat Bugzilla</title>
      <para>
	<note>
	  <para>
	    <emphasis>This section is no longer up-to-date.</emphasis>
	    Please see the section on "Red Hat Bugzilla" under "Variants" in The Bugzilla Guide.
	  </para>
	</note>
      </para>
      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    What about Red Hat Bugzilla?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Red Hat Bugzilla is arguably more user-friendly, customizable, and scalable
	    than stock Bugzilla. Check it out at
	    http://bugzilla.redhat.com and the sources at ftp://people.redhat.com/dkl/.
	    They've set their Bugzilla up to work with Oracle out of the box.
	    Note that Redhat Bugzilla is based upon the 2.8 Bugzilla tree;
	    Bugzilla has made some tremendous advances since the 2.8 release.
	    Why not download both Bugzillas to check out the differences for
	    yourself?
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    Dave Lawrence, the original Red Hat Bugzilla maintainer, mentions:
	    <blockquote>
	      <para>
		Somebody needs to take the ball and run with it.  I'm the only
		maintainer and am very pressed for time.
	      </para>
	    </blockquote>
	    If you, or someone you know, has the time and expertise to do the integration
	    work so main-tree Bugzilla 2.12 and higher integrates the Red
	    Hat Bugzilla Oracle modifications, please donate your
	    time to supporting the Bugzilla project.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    What are the primary benefits of Red Hat Bugzilla?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    <emphasis>Dave Lawrence</emphasis>:
	    <blockquote>
	      <para>
		For the record, we are not using any template type implementation for
		the cosmetic changes maded to Bugzilla.  It is just alot of html changes
		in the code itself.  I admit I may have gotten a little carried away with it
		but the corporate types asked for a more standardized interface to match up
		with other projects relating to Red Hat web sites.  A lot of other web based
		internal tools I am working on also look like Bugzilla.
	      </para>
	      <para>
		I do want to land the changes that I have made to Bugzilla but I may
		have to back out a good deal and make a different version of Red Hat's
		Bugzilla for checking in to CVS. Especially the cosmetic changes because it
		seems they may not fit the general public.  I will do that as soon as I can.
		I also still do my regular QA responsibilities along with Bugzilla so time
		is difficult sometimes to come by.
	      </para>
	      <para>
		There are also a good deal of other changes that were requested by
		management for things like support contracts and different permission
		groups for making bugs private. Here is a short list of the major
		changes that have been made:
	      </para>
	      <orderedlist>
		<listitem>
		  <para>
		    No enum types. All old enum types are now separate smaller tables.
		  </para>
		</listitem>
		<listitem>
		  <para>
		    No bit wise operations. Not all databases support this so they were
		    changed to a more generic way of doing this task
		  </para>
		</listitem>
		<listitem>
		  <para>
		    Bug reports can only be altered by the reporter, assignee, or a
		    privileged bugzilla user. The rest of the world can see the bug but in
		    a non-changeable format (unless the bug has been marked private).  They
		    can however add comments, add and remove themselves from the CC list
		  </para>
		</listitem>
		<listitem>
		  <para>
		    Different group scheme. Each group has an id number related to it.
		    There is a user_group table which contains userid to groupid mappings
		    to determine which groups each user belongs to.  Additionally there is
		    a bug_group table that has bugid to groupid mappings to show which
		    groups can see a particular bug. If there are no entries for a bug in
		    this table then the bug is public.
		  </para>
		</listitem>
		<listitem>
		  <para>
		    Product groups. product_table created to only allow certain products to
		    be visible for certain groups in both bug entry and query. This was
		    particulary helpful for support contracts.
		  </para>
		</listitem>
		<listitem>
		  <para>
		    Of course many (too many) changes to Bugzilla code itself to allow use
		    with Oracle and still allow operation with Mysql if so desired.
		    Currently if you use Mysql it is set to use Mysql's old permission
		    scheme to keep breakage to a minimum. Hopefully one day this will
		    standardize on one style which may of course be something completely
		    different.
		  </para>
		</listitem>
		<listitem>
		  <para>
		    Uses Text::Template perl module for rendering of the dynamic HTML pages
		    such as enter_bug.cgi, query.cgi, bug_form.pl, and for the header and
		    footer parts of the page. This allows the html to be separate from the
		    perl code for customizing the look and feel of the page to one's
		    preference.
		  </para>
		</listitem>
		<listitem>
		  <para>
		    There are many other smaller changes. There is also a port to Oracle
		    that I have been working on as time permits but is not completely
		    finished but somewhat usable. I will merge it into our standard code
		    base when it becomes production quality. Unfortunately there will have
		    to be some conditionals in the code to make it work with other than
		    Oracle due to some differences between Oracle and Mysql.
		  </para>
		</listitem>
	      </orderedlist>
	      <para>
		Both the Mysql and Oracle versions of our current code base are
		available from ftp://people.redhat.com/dkl. If Terry/Tara wants I can submit
		patch files for all of the changes I have made and he can determine what is
		suitable for addition to the main bugzilla cade base. But for me to commit
		changes to the actual CVS I will need to back out alot of things that are
		not suitable for the rest of the Bugzilla community. I am open to
		suggestions.
	      </para>
	    </blockquote>
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    What's the current status of Red Hat Bugzilla?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    <note>
	      <para>
		This information is somewhat dated; I last updated it
		7 June 2000.  Please see the "Variants" section of "The Bugzilla Guide"
		for more up-to-date information regarding Red Hat Bugzilla.
	      </para>
	    </note>
	    <emphasis>Dave Lawrence</emphasis>:
	    <blockquote>
	      <para>
		     I suppose the current thread warrants an update on the status of
		Oracle and bugzilla ;) We have now been running Bugzilla 2.8 on
		Oracle for the last two days in our production environment. I
		tried to do as much testing as possible with it before going live
		which is some of the reason for the long delay. I did not get
		enough feedback as I would have liked from internal developers to
		help weed out any bugs still left so I said "Fine, i will take it
		live and then I will get the feedback I want :)" So it is now
		starting to stabilize and it running quite well after working
		feverishly the last two days fixing problems as soon as they came
		in from the outside world. The current branch in cvs is up2date if
		anyone would like to grab it and try it out. The oracle _setup.pl
		is broken right now due to some last minute changes but I will
		update that soon. Therefore you would probably need to create the
		database tables the old fashioned way using the supplied sql
		creation scripts located in the ./oracle directory. We have heavy
		optimizations in the database it self thanks to the in-house DBA
		here at Red Hat so it is running quite fast. The database itself
		is located on a dual PII450 with 1GB ram and 14 high voltage
		differential raided scsi drives. The tables and indexes are
		partitioned in 4 chuncks across the raided drive which is nice
		because when ever you need to do a full table scan, it is actually
		starting in 4 different locations on 4 different drives
		simultaneously. And the indexes of course are on separate drives
		from the data so that speeds things up tremendously. When  I can
		find the time I will document all that we have done to get this
		thing going to help others that may need it.
	      </para>
	      <para>
		As Matt has mentioned it is still using out-dated code and with a
		little help I would like to bring everything up to date for
		eventual  incorporation with the main cvs tree. Due to other
		duties I have with the company any help with this wiould be
		appreciated. What we are using  now is what I call a best first
		effort. It definitely can be improved on and may even need
		complete rewrites in a lot of areas. A lot of changes may have to
		be made in the way Bugzilla does things currently  to make this
		transition to a more generic database interface.  Fortunately when
		making the Oracle changes I made sure I didn't do  anything that I
		would consider Oracle specific and could not be easily done with
		other databases. Alot of the sql statements need to be broken up
		into smaller utilities that themselves would need to make
		decisions on what database they are using but the majority of the
		code can be made database neutral.
	      </para>
	    </blockquote>
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>
    </qandadiv>


    <qandadiv id="faq-loki">
      <title>Loki Bugzilla (AKA Fenris)</title>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    What is Loki Bugzilla (Fenris)?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Loki Games has a customized version of Bugzilla available at
	    <ulink url="http://fenris.lokigames.com/">http://fenris.lokigames.com</ulink>.  There are some advantages to using Fenris, chief being separation of comments based upon user privacy level, data hiding, forced login for any data retrieval, and some additional fields.  Loki has mainted their code, originally a fork from the Bugzilla 2.8 code base, and it is quite a bit different than stock Bugzilla at this point.  I recommend you stick with official Bugzilla version &bz-ver; rather than using a fork, but it's up to you.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

    </qandadiv>

    <qandadiv id="faq-phb">
      <title>Pointy-Haired-Boss Questions</title>
      <para>
	<note>
	  <para>
	    The title of this section doesn't mean you're a PHB -- it just means
	    you probably HAVE a PHB who wants to know this :)
	  </para>
	</note>
      </para>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Is Bugzilla web-based or do you have to have specific software or
	    specific operating system on your machine?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    It is web and e-mail based.  You can edit bugs by sending specially
	    formatted email to a properly configured Bugzilla, or control via the web.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Has anyone you know of already done any Bugzilla integration with
	    Perforce (SCM software)?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Yes!  You can find more information elsewhere in "The Bugzilla
	    Guide" in the "Integration with Third-Party Products" section.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Does Bugzilla allow the user to track multiple projects?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Absolutely!  You can track up to a "soft-limit" of around
	    64 individual "Products", that can each be composed of as
	    many "Components" as you want.  Check the Administration
	    section of the Bugzilla Guide for more information regarding
	    setting up Products and Components.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    If I am on many projects, and search for all bugs assigned to me, will
	    Bugzilla list them for me and allow me to sort by project, severity etc?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Yes.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Does Bugzilla allow attachments (text, screenshots, urls etc)? If yes,
	    are there any that are NOT allowed?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Yes.  There are many specific MIME-types that are pre-defined by Bugzilla,
	    but you may specify any arbitrary MIME-type you need when you
	    upload the file.  Since all attachments are stored in the database,
	    however, I recommend storing large binary attachments elsewhere
	    in the web server's file system and providing a hyperlink
	    as a comment, or in the provided "URL" field in the bug report.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Does Bugzilla allow us to define our own priorities and levels? Do we
	    have complete freedom to change the labels of fields and format of them, and
	    the choice of acceptable values?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Yes.  However, modifying some fields, notably those related to bug
	    progression states, also require adjusting the program logic to
	    compensate for the change.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    There is no GUI for adding fields to Bugzilla at this
	    time.  You can follow development of this feature at
	    <ulink
		   url="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=91037">http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=91037</ulink>
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>


      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    The index.html page doesn't show the footer.  It's really annoying to have
	    to go to the querypage just to check my "my bugs" link.  How do I get a footer
	    on static HTML pages?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
          <para>
            It's possible to get the footer on the static index page using
            Server Side Includes (SSI).  The trick to doing this is making
            sure that your web server is set up to allow SSI and specifically,
            the #exec directive.  You should also rename <filename>index.html</filename>
            to <filename>index.shtml</filename>.
          </para>
          <para>
            After you've done all that, you can add the following line to
            <filename>index.shtml</filename>:
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
<!--#exec cmd="/usr/bin/perl -e &quot;require 'CGI.pl'; PutFooter();&quot;" -->
]]>
</programlisting>
          </para>
          <para><note>
            <para>
              This line will be replaced with the actual HTML for the footer
              when the page is requested, so you should put this line where you
              want the footer to appear.
            </para>
          </note></para>
          <para>
            Because this method depends on being able to use a #exec directive,
            and most ISP's will not allow that, there is an alternative method.
            You could have a small script (such as <filename>api.cgi</filename>)
            that basically looks like:
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
#!/usr/bonsaitools/bin/perl -w

require 'globals.pl';

if ($::FORM{sub} eq 'PutFooter') {
    PutFooter();
} else {
    die 'api.cgi was incorrectly called';
}
]]>
</programlisting>
            and then put this line in <filename>index.shtml</filename>.
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
<!--#include virtual="api.cgi?sub=PutFooter"-->
]]>
</programlisting>
          </para>
         <para> <note>
            <para>
              This still requires being able to use Server Side Includes, if
              this simply will not work for you, see <ulink
              url="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=80183">bug 80183</ulink>
              for a third option.
            </para>
          </note></para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>
      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Does Bugzilla provide any reporting features, metrics, graphs, etc? You
	    know, the type of stuff that management likes to see. :)
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Yes.  Look at <ulink url="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/reports.cgi">
	    http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/reports.cgi</ulink> for basic reporting
	    facilities.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    For more advanced reporting, I recommend hooking up a professional
	    reporting package, such as Crystal Reports, and use ODBC to access
	    the MySQL database.  You can do a lot through the Query page of
	    Bugzilla as well, but right now Advanced Reporting is much
	    better accomplished through third-party utilities that can
	    interface with the database directly.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    Advanced Reporting is a Bugzilla 3.X proposed feature.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Is there email notification and if so, what do you see when you get an
	    email? Do you see bug number and title or is it only the number?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Email notification is user-configurable.  The bug id and Topic
	    of the bug report accompany each email notification, along with
	    a list of the changes made.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Can email notification be set up to send to multiple
	    people, some on the To List, CC List, BCC List etc?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Yes.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    If there is email notification, do users have to have any particular
	    type of email application?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Bugzilla email is sent in plain text, the most compatible mail format
	    on the planet.
	    <note>
	      <para>
		If you decide to use the bugzilla_email integration features
		to allow Bugzilla to record responses to mail with the associated bug,
		you may need to caution your users to set their mailer to "respond
		to messages in the format in which they were sent".  For security reasons
		Bugzilla ignores HTML tags in comments, and if a user sends HTML-based
		email into Bugzilla the resulting comment looks downright awful.
	      </para>
	    </note>
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	     If I just wanted to track certain bugs, as they go through life, can I
	    set it up to alert me via email whenever that bug changes, whether it be
	    owner, status or description etc.?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Yes.  Place yourself in the "cc" field of the bug you wish to monitor.
	    Then change your "Notify me of changes to" field in the Email Settings
	    tab of the User Preferences screen in Bugzilla to the "Only those
	    bugs which I am listed on the CC line" option.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Does Bugzilla allow data to be imported and exported? If I had outsiders
	    write up a bug report using a MS Word bug template, could that template be
	    imported into "matching" fields? If I wanted to take the results of a query
	    and export that data to MS Excel, could I do that?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Mozilla allows data export through a custom DTD in XML format.
	    It does not, however, export to specific formats other than the
	    XML Mozilla DTD.  Importing the data into Excel or any other application
	    is left as an exercise for the reader.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    If you create import filters to other applications from Mozilla's XML,
	    please submit your modifications for inclusion in future Bugzilla
	    distributions.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    As for data import, any application can send data to Bugzilla through
	    the HTTP protocol, or through Mozilla's XML API.  However, it seems
	    kind of silly to put another front-end in front of Bugzilla;
	    it makes more sense to create a simplified bug submission form in
	    HTML.  You can find an excellent example at
	    <ulink url="http://www.mozilla.org/quality/help/bugzilla-helper.html">
	    http://www.mozilla.org/quality/help/bugzilla-helper.html</ulink>
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Has anyone converted Bugzilla to another language to be used in other
	    countries? Is it localizable?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Currently, no.  Internationalization support for Perl did not
	    exist in a robust fashion until the recent release of version 5.6.0;
	    Bugzilla is, and likely will remain (until 3.X) completely
	    non-localized.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Can a user create and save reports? Can they do this in Word format?
	    Excel format?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Yes.  No.  No.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Can a user re-run a report with a new project, same query?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Yes.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Can a user modify an existing report and then save it into another name?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    You can save an unlimited number of queries in Bugzilla.  You are free
	    to modify them and rename them to your heart's desire.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Does Bugzilla have the ability to search by word, phrase, compound
	    search?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    You have no idea.  Bugzilla's query interface, particularly with the
	    advanced Boolean operators, is incredibly versatile.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Can the admin person establish separate group and individual user
	    privileges?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Yes.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	     Does Bugzilla provide record locking when there is simultaneous access
	    to the same bug? Does the second person get a notice that the bug is in use
	    or how are they notified?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Bugzilla does not lock records.  It provides mid-air collision detection,
	    and offers the offending user a choice of options to deal with the conflict.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Are there any backup features provided?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    MySQL, the database back-end for Bugzilla, allows hot-backup of data.
	    You can find strategies for dealing with backup considerations
	    at <ulink url="http://www.mysql.com/doc/B/a/Backup.html">
	    http://www.mysql.com/doc/B/a/Backup.html</ulink>
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Can users be on the system while a backup is in progress?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Yes.  However, commits to the database must wait
	    until the tables are unlocked.  Bugzilla databases are typically
	    very small, and backups routinely take less than a minute.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    What type of human resources are needed to be on staff to install and
	    maintain Bugzilla? Specifically, what type of skills does the person need to
	    have? I need to find out if we were to go with Bugzilla, what types of
	    individuals would we need to hire and how much would that cost vs buying an
	    "Out-of-the-Box" solution.
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    If Bugzilla is set up correctly from the start, continuing maintenance needs
	    are minimal and can be completed by unskilled labor.  Things like rotate
	    backup tapes and check log files for the word "error".
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    Commercial Bug-tracking software typically costs somewhere upwards
	    of $20,000 or more for 5-10 floating licenses.  Bugzilla consultation
	    is available from skilled members of the newsgroup.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    As an example, as of this writing I typically charge
	     $115 for the first hour, and $89 each hour thereafter
	    for consulting work.  It takes me three to five hours to make Bugzilla
	    happy on a Development installation of Linux-Mandrake.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    What time frame are we looking at if we decide to hire people to install
	    and maintain the Bugzilla? Is this something that takes hours or weeks to
	    install and a couple of hours per week to maintain and customize or is this
	    a multi-week install process, plus a full time job for 1 person, 2 people,
	    etc?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    It all depends on your level of commitment.  Someone with much Bugzilla
	    experience can get you up and running in less than a day, and
	    your Bugzilla install can run untended for years.  If your
	    Bugzilla strategy is critical to your business workflow, hire somebody
	    with reasonable UNIX or Perl skills to handle your process management and
	    bug-tracking maintenance &amp; customization.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Is there any licensing fee or other fees for using Bugzilla? Any
	    out-of-pocket cost other than the bodies needed as identified above?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    No.  MySQL asks, if you find their product valuable, that you purchase
	    a support contract from them that suits your needs.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>
    </qandadiv>

    <qandadiv id="faq-install">
      <title>Bugzilla Installation</title>
      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    How do I download and install Bugzilla?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Check <ulink url="http://www.mozilla.org/projects/bugzilla/">
	    http://www.mozilla.org/projects/bugzilla/</ulink> for details.
	    Once you download it, untar it, read the Bugzilla Guide.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    How do I install Bugzilla on Windows NT?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Installation on Windows NT has its own section in
	    "The Bugzilla Guide".
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Is there an easy way to change the Bugzilla cookie name?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    At present, no.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

    </qandadiv>

    <qandadiv id="faq-security">
      <title>Bugzilla Security</title>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    How do I completely disable MySQL security if it's giving me problems
	    (I've followed the instructions in the installation section of this guide!)?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Run mysql like this: "mysqld --skip-grant-tables".  Please remember <emphasis>this
	    makes mysql as secure as taping a $100 to the floor of a football stadium
	    bathroom for safekeeping.</emphasis>  Please read the Security section of the
	    Administration chapter of "The Bugzilla Guide" before proceeding.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Are there any security problems with Bugzilla?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    The Bugzilla code has not undergone a complete security audit.
	    It is recommended that you closely examine permissions on your Bugzilla
	    installation, and follow the recommended security guidelines found
	    in The Bugzilla Guide.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>


      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    I've implemented the security fixes mentioned in Chris Yeh's security
	    advisory of 5/10/2000 advising not to run MySQL as root, and am running into
	    problems with MySQL no longer working correctly.
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    This is a common problem, related to running out of file descriptors.
	    Simply add "ulimit -n unlimited" to the script which starts
	    mysqld.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>
    </qandadiv>

    <qandadiv id="faq-email">
      <title>Bugzilla Email</title>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    I have a user who doesn't want to receive any more email from Bugzilla.
	    How do I stop it entirely for this user?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    With the email changes to 2.12, the user should be able to set
	    this in user email preferences.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    I'm evaluating/testing Bugzilla, and don't want it to send email to
	    anyone but me. How do I do it?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Edit the param for the mail text. Replace "To:" with "X-Real-To:",
	    replace "Cc:" with "X-Real-CC:", and add a "To: (myemailaddress)".
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    I want whineatnews.pl to whine at something more, or other than, only new
	    bugs. How do I do it?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Try Klaas Freitag's excellent patch for "whineatassigned" functionality.
	    You can find it at<ulink url=" http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=6679">
	      http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=6679</ulink>. This
	    patch is against an older version of Bugzilla, so you must apply
	    the diffs manually.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    I don't like/want to use Procmail to hand mail off to bug_email.pl.
	    What alternatives do I have?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    You can call bug_email.pl directly from your aliases file, with
	    an entry like this:
	    <blockquote>
	      <para>
		bugzilla-daemon: "|/usr/local/bin/bugzilla/contrib/bug_email.pl"
	      </para>
	    </blockquote>
	    However, this is fairly nasty and subject to problems; you also
	    need to set up your smrsh (sendmail restricted shell) to allow
	    it.  In a pinch, though, it can work.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    How do I set up the email interface to submit/change bugs via email?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    You can find an updated README.mailif file in the contrib/ directory
	    of your Bugzilla distribution that walks you through the setup.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Email takes FOREVER to reach me from bugzilla -- it's extremely slow.
	    What gives?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    If you are using an alternate Mail Transport Agent (MTA other than
	    sendmail), make sure the options given in the "processmail" script for all
	    instances of "sendmail" are correct for your MTA.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    If you are using Sendmail, try enabling "sendmailnow" in editparams.cgi.
            If you are using Postfix, you will also need to enable <quote>sendmailnow</quote>.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	     How come email never reaches me from bugzilla changes?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Double-check that you have not turned off email in your user preferences.
	    Confirm that Bugzilla is able to send email by visiting the "Log In"
	    link of your Bugzilla installation and clicking the "Email me a password"
	    button after entering your email address.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    If you never receive mail from Bugzilla, chances you do not have
	    sendmail in "/usr/lib/sendmail".  Ensure sendmail lives in, or is symlinked
	    to, "/usr/lib/sendmail".
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>
    </qandadiv>

    <qandadiv id="faq-db">
      <title>Bugzilla Database</title>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    I've heard Bugzilla can be used with Oracle?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Red Hat Bugzilla, mentioned above, works with Oracle.  The current version
	    from Mozilla.org does not have this capability.  Unfortunately, though
	    you will sacrifice a lot of the really great features available in
	    Bugzilla 2.10 and 2.12 if you go with the 2.8-based Redhat version.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Bugs are missing from queries, but exist in the database (and I can pull
	    them up by specifying the bug ID). What's wrong?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	     You've almost certainly enabled the "shadow database", but for some
	    reason it hasn't been updated for all your bugs. This is the database
	    against which queries are run, so that really complex or slow queries won't
	    lock up portions of the database for other users. You can turn off the
	    shadow database in editparams.cgi. If you wish to continue using the shadow
	    database, then as your "bugs" user run "./syncshadowdb -syncall" from the
	    command line in the bugzilla installation directory to recreate your shadow
	    database. After it finishes, be sure to check the params and make sure that
	    "queryagainstshadowdb" is still turned on. The syncshadowdb program turns it
	    off if it was on, and is supposed to turn it back on when completed; that
	    way, if it crashes in the middle of recreating the database, it will stay
	    off forever until someone turns it back on by hand. Apparently, it doesn't
	    always do that yet.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    I think my database might be corrupted, or contain invalid entries. What
	    do I do?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Run the <quote>sanity check</quote> utility
	    (<filename>./sanitycheck.cgi</filename> in the
	    Bugzilla_home directory) from your web browser to see! If
	    it finishes without errors, you're
	    <emphasis>probably</emphasis> OK.  If it doesn't come back
	    OK (i.e. any red letters), there are certain things
	    Bugzilla can recover from and certain things it can't.  If
	    it can't auto-recover, I hope you're familiar with
	    mysqladmin commands or have installed another way to
	    manage your database.  Sanity Check, although it is a good
	    basic check on your database integrity, by no means is a
	    substitute for competent database administration and
	    avoiding deletion of data.  It is not exhaustive, and was
	    created to do a basic check for the most common problems
	    in Bugzilla databases.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    I want to manually edit some entries in my database. How?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	     There is no facility in Bugzilla itself to do this. It's also generally
	    not a smart thing to do if you don't know exactly what you're doing.
	    However, if you understand SQL you can use the mysqladmin utility to
	    manually insert, delete, and modify table information. Personally, I
	    use "phpMyAdmin". You have to compile a PHP module with MySQL
	    support to make it work, but it's very clean and easy to use.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    I try to add myself as a user, but Bugzilla always tells me my password is wrong.
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Certain version of MySQL (notably, 3.23.29 and 3.23.30) accidentally disabled
	    the "crypt()" function.  This prevented MySQL from storing encrypted passwords.
	    Upgrade to the "3.23 stable" version of MySQL and you should be good to go.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    I think I've set up MySQL permissions correctly, but bugzilla still can't
	    connect.
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Try running MySQL from its binary: "mysqld --skip-grant-tables". This
	    will allow you to completely rule out grant tables as the cause of your
	    frustration. However, I do not recommend you run it this way on a regular
	    basis, unless you really want your web site defaced and your machine
	    cracked.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    How do I synchronize bug information among multiple different Bugzilla
	    databases?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Well, you can synchronize or you can move bugs.  Synchronization will
	    only work one way -- you can create a read-only copy of the database
	    at one site, and have it regularly updated at intervals from the main
	    database.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    MySQL has some synchronization features builtin to the latest releases.
	    It would be great if someone looked into the possibilities there
	    and provided a report to the newsgroup on how to effectively
	    synchronize two Bugzilla installations.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    If you simply need to transfer bugs from one Bugzilla to another,
	    checkout the "move.pl" script in the Bugzilla distribution.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Why do I get bizarre errors when trying to submit data, particularly problems
	    with "groupset"?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    If you're sure your MySQL parameters are correct, you might want turn
	    "strictvaluechecks" OFF in editparams.cgi.  If you have "usebugsentry" set
	    "On", you also cannot submit a bug as readable by more than one group with
	    "strictvaluechecks" ON.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    How come even after I delete bugs, the long descriptions show up?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    This should only happen with Bugzilla &bz-ver; if you are
	    using the <quote>shadow database</quote> feature, and your
	    shadow database is out of sync.  Try running
	    <filename>syncshadowdb</filename>
	    <option>-syncall</option> to make sure your shadow
	    database is in synch with your primary database.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

    </qandadiv>

    <qandadiv id="faq-nt">
      <title>Bugzilla and Win32</title>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    What is the easiest way to run Bugzilla on Win32 (Win98+/NT/2K)?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Remove Windows. Install Linux. Install Bugzilla.
	    The boss will never know the difference.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Is there a "Bundle::Bugzilla" equivalent for Win32?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Not currently.  Bundle::Bugzilla enormously simplifies Bugzilla
	    installation on UNIX systems.  If someone can volunteer to
	    create a suitable PPM bundle for Win32, it would be appreciated.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    CGI's are failing with a "something.cgi is not a valid Windows NT
	    application" error. Why?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Depending on what Web server you are using, you will have to configure
	    the Web server to treat *.cgi files as CGI scripts. In IIS, you do this by
	    adding *.cgi to the App Mappings with the &lt;path&gt;\perl.exe %s %s as the
	    executable.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    Microsoft has some advice on this matter, as well:
	    <blockquote>
	      <para>
		"Set application mappings. In the ISM, map the extension for the script
		file(s) to the executable for the script interpreter. For example, you might
		map the extension .py to Python.exe, the executable for the Python script
		interpreter. Note For the ActiveState Perl script interpreter, the extension
		.pl is associated with PerlIS.dll by default. If you want to change the
		association of .pl to perl.exe, you need to change the application mapping.
		In the mapping, you must add two percent (%) characters to the end of the
		pathname for perl.exe, as shown in this example: c:\perl\bin\perl.exe %s %s"
	      </para>
	    </blockquote>
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Can I have some general instructions on how to make Bugzilla on Win32 work?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    The following couple entries are deprecated in favor of the Windows installation
	    instructions available in the "Administration" portion of "The Bugzilla Guide".
	    However, they are provided here for historical interest and insight.
	    <literallayout>
  1. #!C:/perl/bin/perl had to be added to every perl file.
  2. Converted to Net::SMTP to handle mail messages instead of
     /usr/bin/sendmail.
  3. The crypt function isn't available on Windows NT (at least none that I
     am aware), so I made encrypted passwords = plaintext passwords.
  4. The system call to diff had to be changed to the Cygwin diff.
  5. This was just to get a demo running under NT, it seems to be working
     good, and I have inserted almost 100 bugs from another bug tracking
     system. Since this work was done just to get an in-house demo, I am NOT
     planning on making a patch for submission to Bugzilla. If you would
     like a zip file, let me know.

Q: Hmm, couldn't figure it out from the general instructions above.  How
about step-by-step?
A: Sure! Here ya go!

  1. Install IIS 4.0 from the NT Option Pack #4.
  2. Download and install Active Perl.
  3. Install the Windows GNU tools from Cygwin. Make sure to add the bin
     directory to your system path. (Everyone should have these, whether
     they decide to use Bugzilla or not. :-) )
  4. Download relevant packages from ActiveState at
     http://www.activestate.com/packages/zips/. + DBD-Mysql.zip
  5. Extract each zip file with WinZip, and install each ppd file using the
     notation: ppm install &lt;module&gt;.ppd
  6. Install Mysql.  *Note: If you move the default install from c:\mysql,
     you must add the appropriate startup parameters to the NT service. (ex.
     -b e:\\programs\\mysql)
  7. Download any Mysql client. http://www.mysql.com/download_win.html
  8. Setup MySql. (These are the commands that I used.)

          I. Cleanup default database settings.
           C:\mysql\bin\mysql -u root mysql
           mysql> DELETE FROM user WHERE Host='localhost' AND User='';
           mysql> quit
          C:\mysql\bin\mysqladmin reload

          II. Set password for root.
           C:\mysql\bin\mysql -u root mysql
           mysql> UPDATE user SET Password=PASSWORD('new_password')
           WHERE user='root';
           mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
           mysql> quit
           C:\mysql\bin\mysqladmin -u root reload

          III. Create bugs user.
           C:\mysql\bin\mysql -u root -p
           mysql> insert into user (host,user,password)
          values('localhost','bugs','');
           mysql> quit
           C:\mysql\bin\mysqladmin -u root reload

          IV. Create the bugs database.
           C:\mysql\bin\mysql -u root -p
           mysql> create database bugs;

          V. Give the bugs user access to the bugs database.
           mysql> insert into db
          (host,db,user,select_priv,insert_priv,update_priv,delete_priv,create_priv,drop_priv)
          values('localhost','bugs','bugs','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','N')
           mysql> quit
           C:\mysql\bin\mysqladmin -u root reload
  9. Run the table scripts to setup the bugs database.
 10. Change CGI.pm to use the following regular expression because of
     differing backslashes in NT versus UNIX.
        o $0 =~ m:[^\\]*$:;
 11. Had to make the crypt password = plain text password in the database.
     (Thanks to Andrew Lahser" &lt;andrew_lahser@merck.com&gt;" on this one.) The
     files that I changed were:
        o globals.pl
        o CGI.pl
        o alternately, you can try commenting all references to 'crypt'
          string and replace them with similar lines but without encrypt()
          or crypr() functions insida all files.
 12. Replaced sendmail with Windmail. Basically, you have to come up with a
     sendmail substitute for NT. Someone said that they used a Perl module
     (Net::SMTP), but I was trying to save time and do as little Perl coding
     as possible.
 13. Added "perl" to the beginning of all Perl system calls that use a perl
     script as an argument and renamed processmail to processmail.pl.
 14. In processmail.pl, I added binmode(HANDLE) before all read() calls. I'm
     not sure about this one, but the read() under NT wasn't counting the
     EOLs without the binary read."
	    </literallayout>
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    I'm having trouble with the perl modules for NT not being able to talk to
	    to the database.
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Your modules may be outdated or inaccurate. Try:
	    <orderedlist>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  Hitting http://www.activestate.com/ActivePerl
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  Download ActivePerl
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  Go to your prompt
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  Type 'ppm'
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  <prompt>PPM></prompt> <command>install DBI DBD-mysql GD</command>
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	    </orderedlist>
	    I reckon TimeDate and Data::Dumper come with the activeperl. You can check
	    the ActiveState site for packages for installation through PPM.
	    <ulink url=" http://www.activestate.com/Packages/">
	      http://www.activestate.com/Packages/</ulink>
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

    </qandadiv>

    <qandadiv id="faq-use">
      <title>Bugzilla Usage</title>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    The query page is very confusing.  Isn't there a simpler way to query?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    We are developing in that direction.  You can follow progress on this
	    at <ulink url="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=16775">
	      http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=16775</ulink>.  Some functionality
	    is available in Bugzilla 2.12, and is available as "quicksearch.html"
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    I'm confused by the behavior of the "accept" button in the Show Bug form.
	    Why doesn't it assign the bug to me when I accept it?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    The current behavior is acceptable to bugzilla.mozilla.org and most
	    users.  I personally don't like it.  You have your choice of patches
	    to change this behavior, however.
	    <simplelist>
	      <member><ulink url="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/showattachment.cgi?attach_id=8029">
		Add a "and accept bug" radio button</ulink></member>
	      <member><ulink url="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/showattachment.cgi?attach_id=8153">
		"Accept" button automatically assigns to you</ulink></member>
	    </simplelist>
	    Note that these patches are somewhat dated.  You will need to do the find
	    and replace manually to apply them.  They are very small, though.  It is easy.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    I can't upload anything into the database via the "Create Attachment"
	    link.  What am I doing wrong?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    The most likely cause is a very old browser or a browser that is
	    incompatible with file upload via POST.  Download the latest Netscape,
	    Microsoft, or Mozilla browser to handle uploads correctly.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    Email submissions to Bugzilla that have attachments end up asking me to
	    save it as a "cgi" file.
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Yup.  Just rename it once you download it, or save it under a different
	    filename.  This will not be fixed anytime too soon, because it would
	    cripple some other functionality.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    How do I change a keyword in Bugzilla, once some bugs are using it?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    In the Bugzilla administrator UI, edit the keyword and it will let you
	    replace the old keyword name with a new one.  This will cause a problem
	    with the keyword cache.  Run sanitycheck.cgi to fix it.
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

    </qandadiv>

    <qandadiv id="faq-hacking">
      <title>Bugzilla Hacking</title>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    What bugs are in Bugzilla right now?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    Try <ulink url="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=NEW&amp;bug_status=ASSIGNED&amp;bug_status=REOPENED&amp;product=Bugzilla">
	    this link</ulink> to view current bugs or requests for
	    enhancement for Bugzilla.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    You can view bugs marked for 2.16 release
	    <ulink url="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/buglist.cgi?product=Bugzilla&amp;target_milestone=Bugzilla+2.16">here</ulink>.
	    This list includes bugs for the 2.16 release that have already
	    been fixed and checked into CVS.  Please consult the
	    <ulink url="http://www.mozilla.org/projects/bugzilla/">
	      Bugzilla Project Page</ulink> for details on how to
	    check current sources out of CVS so you can have these
	    bug fixes early!
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    How can I change the default priority to a null value?  For instance, have the default
	    priority be "---" instead of "P2"?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <para>
	    This is well-documented here: <ulink url="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=49862">
	    http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=49862</ulink>.  Ultimately, it's as easy
	    as adding the "---" priority field to your localconfig file in the appropriate area,
	    re-running checksetup.pl, and then changing the default priority in your browser using
	    "editparams.cgi".  Hmm, now that I think about it, that is kind of a klunky way to handle
	    it, but for now it's what we have!  Although the bug has been closed "resolved wontfix",
	    there may be a better way to handle this...
	  </para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>
	    What's the best way to submit patches?  What guidelines should I follow?
	  </para>
	</question>
	<answer>
	  <blockquote>
	    <orderedlist>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  Enter a bug into bugzilla.mozilla.org for the <quote><ulink
                  url="http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=Bugzilla">Bugzilla</ulink></quote>
                  product.
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  Upload your patch as a unified DIFF (having used "diff -u" against
		  the <emphasis>current sources</emphasis> checked out of CVS),
		  or new source file by clicking
		  "Create a new attachment" link on the bug page you've just created, and
		  include any descriptions of database changes you may make, into the bug
		  ID you submitted in step #1.  Be sure and click the "Patch" radio
		  button to indicate the text you are sending is a patch!
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  Announce your patch and the associated URL
		  (http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=XXXX) for discussion in
		  the newsgroup (netscape.public.mozilla.webtools).  You'll get a really
		  good, fairly immediate reaction to the implications of your patch,
		  which will also give us an idea how well-received the change would
		  be.
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  If it passes muster with minimal modification, the person to whom
		  the bug is assigned in Bugzilla is responsible for seeing the patch
		  is checked into CVS.
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  Bask in the glory of the fact that you helped write the most successful
		  open-source bug-tracking software on the planet :)
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	    </orderedlist>
	  </blockquote>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>


    </qandadiv>

  </qandaset>

</appendix>


<!-- Keep this comment at the end of the file
Local variables:
mode: sgml
sgml-always-quote-attributes:t
sgml-auto-insert-required-elements:t
sgml-balanced-tag-edit:t
sgml-exposed-tags:nil
sgml-general-insert-case:lower
sgml-indent-data:t
sgml-indent-step:2
sgml-local-catalogs:nil
sgml-local-ecat-files:nil
sgml-minimize-attributes:nil
sgml-namecase-general:t
sgml-omittag:t
sgml-parent-document:("Bugzilla-Guide.sgml" "book" "chapter")
sgml-shorttag:t
sgml-tag-region-if-active:t
End:
-->