+.. _reportingbugs:
+
+Reporting bugs
+++++++++++++++
+
Background
==========
public mailing list(s) in the email thread.
If you know which driver is causing issues, you can pass one of the driver
-files to the get_maintainer.pl script:
+files to the get_maintainer.pl script::
+
perl scripts/get_maintainer.pl -f <filename>
If it is a security bug, please copy the Security Contact listed in the
MAINTAINERS file. They can help coordinate bugfix and disclosure. See
-Documentation/SecurityBugs for more information.
+:ref:`Documentation/SecurityBugs <securitybugs>` for more information.
If you can't figure out which subsystem caused the issue, you should file
a bug in kernel.org bugzilla and send email to
If you haven't reported a bug before, please read:
-http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html
-http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
+ http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html
+
+ http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
It's REALLY important to report bugs that seem unrelated as separate email
threads or separate bugzilla entries. If you report several unrelated
First run the ver_linux script included as scripts/ver_linux, which
reports the version of some important subsystems. Run this script with
-the command "sh scripts/ver_linux".
+the command ``sh scripts/ver_linux``.
Use that information to fill in all fields of the bug report form, and
post it to the mailing list with a subject of "PROBLEM: <one line
-summary from [1.]>" for easy identification by the developers.
-
-[1.] One line summary of the problem:
-[2.] Full description of the problem/report:
-[3.] Keywords (i.e., modules, networking, kernel):
-[4.] Kernel information
-[4.1.] Kernel version (from /proc/version):
-[4.2.] Kernel .config file:
-[5.] Most recent kernel version which did not have the bug:
-[6.] Output of Oops.. message (if applicable) with symbolic information
- resolved (see Documentation/oops-tracing.txt)
-[7.] A small shell script or example program which triggers the
- problem (if possible)
-[8.] Environment
-[8.1.] Software (add the output of the ver_linux script here)
-[8.2.] Processor information (from /proc/cpuinfo):
-[8.3.] Module information (from /proc/modules):
-[8.4.] Loaded driver and hardware information (/proc/ioports, /proc/iomem)
-[8.5.] PCI information ('lspci -vvv' as root)
-[8.6.] SCSI information (from /proc/scsi/scsi)
-[8.7.] Other information that might be relevant to the problem
- (please look in /proc and include all information that you
- think to be relevant):
-[X.] Other notes, patches, fixes, workarounds:
+summary from [1.]>" for easy identification by the developers::
+
+ [1.] One line summary of the problem:
+ [2.] Full description of the problem/report:
+ [3.] Keywords (i.e., modules, networking, kernel):
+ [4.] Kernel information
+ [4.1.] Kernel version (from /proc/version):
+ [4.2.] Kernel .config file:
+ [5.] Most recent kernel version which did not have the bug:
+ [6.] Output of Oops.. message (if applicable) with symbolic information
+ resolved (see Documentation/oops-tracing.txt)
+ [7.] A small shell script or example program which triggers the
+ problem (if possible)
+ [8.] Environment
+ [8.1.] Software (add the output of the ver_linux script here)
+ [8.2.] Processor information (from /proc/cpuinfo):
+ [8.3.] Module information (from /proc/modules):
+ [8.4.] Loaded driver and hardware information (/proc/ioports, /proc/iomem)
+ [8.5.] PCI information ('lspci -vvv' as root)
+ [8.6.] SCSI information (from /proc/scsi/scsi)
+ [8.7.] Other information that might be relevant to the problem
+ (please look in /proc and include all information that you
+ think to be relevant):
+ [X.] Other notes, patches, fixes, workarounds:
Follow up
Linux kernel maintainers are busy, overworked human beings. Some times
they may not be able to address your bug in a day, a week, or two weeks.
If they don't answer your email, they may be on vacation, or at a Linux
-conference. Check the conference schedule at LWN.net for more info:
+conference. Check the conference schedule at https://LWN.net for more info:
+
https://lwn.net/Calendar/
In general, kernel maintainers take 1 to 5 business days to respond to