User:Wwoods/Debugging Guide

= "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