Bug statuses

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information_little.png This page is part of the Bug Squad’s KnowledgeBase - pages with information about how to triage bugs.

Bug statuses are a reflection of the current state of a bug report.

The status of a bug report can be modified by clicking on the current status in the yellow line, which will reveal a sub menu. You can then set a new status in the drop down box.

Below is a list of bug statuses, their meaning and when to use them:

  • New:

    • Bugs are submitted with this status,
    • They sometimes lack information and

    • All of them should be untriaged
  • Incomplete:

    • If you have to ask the reporter questions, set the bug to Incomplete

    • Ask the submitter to provide any necessary information in a comment, and make sure you subscribe yourself to the bug report so you will get any updates to the bug via e-mail.
    • Include: Nothing found for "^== Incomplete bugs without a response from submitter =="!

      information_little.png This page is part of the Bug Squad’s KnowledgeBase - pages with information about how to triage bugs.

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      When you update one of these responses, you should also update the response used by the Firefox extension. These responses can be found in the bazaar branch lp:ubuntu-bugcontrol-tools in the file gm-xml-files/bugsquad-replies.xml. To check out a branch, use

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      Only members of bug-control can commit to this branch. But you can submit a merge proposal, Brian Murray will review/merge it (see this email message), and they can be used when replying to a bug report if merged.

      Not described well

      Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Unfortunately, we cannot work on this bug because your description didn't include enough information. You may find it helpful to read "How to report bugs effectively" http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html. We'd be grateful if you would then provide a more complete description of the problem.

      We have instructions on debugging some types of problems at http://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingProcedures.

      At a minimum, we need:

      1. The specific steps or actions you took that caused you to encounter the problem.
      2. The behavior you expected.
      3. The behavior you actually encountered (in as much detail as possible).

      Please also ensure that you include the release and flavour of Ubuntu that you are using.

      Thank you!

      Missing Steps to Recreate Bug

      Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please answer these questions:
      * Is this reproducible?
      * If so, what specific steps should we take to recreate this bug?

      This will help us to find and resolve the problem.

      Missing Apport Information

      Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please execute the following command only once, as it will automatically gather debugging information, in a terminal:
      apport-collect BUGNUMBER

      When reporting bugs in the future please use apport by using 'ubuntu-bug' and the name of the package affected. You can learn more about this functionality at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.

      Package or domain specific questions

      The following packages or type of bugs require the specific debugging information:

  • Opinion:

    • The status 'opinion' means there is a difference of opinion around a particular bug and people are free to continue the discussion, but the project or package maintainers need to move to other work and are considering the issue closed. The idea is that bugs can be marked closed, so developers aren't wasting time on them, but discussion can still be on-going.
    • This status 'opinion' is considered an experiment, and will be closely monitored.
  • Invalid:

    • This status should be used when the bug report does not contain adequate information to determine whether or not it is a bug even if it is resolved for the reporter
    • This should also be used if the reported problem is not a bug at all, but for example user error
    • It should be used conservatively as bugs marked as Invalid no longer show up in default searches
    • Be sure to triple-check a bug before you invalidate it
  • Expired

    • This status is similar to Invalid, but is meant specifically for bugs that have been Incomplete for too long. (See above.)
    • This status is only able to be set by using launchpadlib or the email interface.
    • Like Invalid bugs, Expired bugs do not show up in default searches.
  • Confirmed:

    • Another reporter has experienced the same bug, this can come in the form of a duplicate bug or a bug comment
    • Confirmed bugs require confirmation from someone other than the original reporter

    • This helps ensure that the bug is applicable to Ubuntu in general, and not a problem with the reporter's system, therefore...
    • Please don't confirm your own bugs!
  • Triaged:

    • A member of UbuntuBugControl believes that the report describes a genuine bug in enough detail that a developer could start working on a fix. (also see tip below)

    • Use this when you are confident that it should be looked at by a developer and has enough information

    • While not a requirement a bug's Ubuntu task status will be Triaged before any upstream forwarding occurs
    • With bugs about linux Triaged means that the bug has been tested with the upstream mainline kernel

  • In Progress:

    • If you are working on fixing a bug, set it to In Progress so people know what's going on

    • In Progress bugs should be assigned to the person working on them

  • Fix Committed:

    • Ubuntu bug task: the changes are pending and to be uploaded soon (it's what PENDINGUPLOAD was in Bugzilla)
      • Fix Committed is also used when an updated package exists in a -proposed repository i.e. hardy-proposed

      • Fix Committed is not to be used when a patch is attached to a bug

    • Upstream bug task: the fix is in CVS/SVN/bzr or committed to some place
  • Fix Released:

    • Ubuntu bug task: a fix was uploaded to an official Ubuntu repository
      • N.B. This does not include -proposed i.e. hardy-proposed

      • Please don't hesitate to add a changelog as a comment, so people know in which package version a bug was fixed
      • If a bug is fixed in the current development release, it is Fix Released. If the bug also needs to be fixed in a stable release, use the "Target to release" link to nominate it for that release.

    • Upstream bug task: a release tarball was announced and is publicly available
  • Won't Fix:

    • This status is sometimes used when the bug fix is too controversial
    • It is most often used for bugs with a release target that will not be fixed in that particular release but may be fixed later
    • It may also be used for feature requests that the developers do not want to implement

Warning /!\ the following status changes are restricted to members of UbuntuBugControl or package maintainers:

  • moving to Triaged, or WONTFIX
  • moving from WONTFIX

  • targeting to a specific Ubuntu release

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have a question, please feel free to add it here without an answer. A BugSquad member will add the answer later.

  • What is the appropriate status if the bug's reporter later says the bug no longer exists but the related changelog does not note a fix?
    • See the first point under "Invalid", the bug does not have sufficient information.
  • What should a triager do if there is consensus among users and developers that an issue is valid but there is no good solution?

    • Keep the bug open with a status of "Wishlist" or "Triaged", depending on the severity.
  • Should the bug reporter reset the bug status to "New" if providing more information to an "Incomplete" bug?
    • Yes.
  • When converting a question to a bug, can the bug status immediately be set to "Confirmed" if comments in the question indicate that multiple users experience the bug?
    • Make a judgment call: as long as more than one person experiences the bug, the proper status is "Confirmed".

  • What should a triager do if a bug needs more information, including steps to reproduce, but the original reporter is not available to provide it?
    • Mark the bug as Invalid with a comment that the reporter should provide the information and reopen the bug by resetting its status to 'New'.

IconHelp2.pngNot yet an Ubuntu Bug Control member? If you notice a bug having sufficient information and has not yet been set to Triaged, you'll have to ask someone who is to set the bug to Triaged for you. Paste the bug number in #ubuntu-bugs channel at FreeNode and say you think the bug should be set to 'Triaged' with importance 'Wishlist / Low / Medium / High / Critical' according to Bugs/Importance. Someone will notice your comment and set it for you, although not necessarily immediately.


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