Quick ?s
Cheat Sheets
Man Pages
The Lynx
Software
reportbug(1)							  reportbug(1)



NAME
       reportbug - reports a bug to a debbugs server

SYNOPSIS
       reportbug [options] 

DESCRIPTION
       reportbug  is primarily designed to report bugs in the Debian distribu
       tion; by default, it creates an email to the Debian bug tracking system
       at  submit@bugs.debian.org with information about the bug youve found,
       and makes a carbon copy of the report for you as well.

       Using the --bts option, you can also report bugs to other servers  that
       use the Debian bug tracking system, debbugs.

       You  may  specify either a package name or an absolute filename; if you
       use a filename, it must begin with a / to be recognized.  If  you  want
       reportbug  to  search the system for a filename, see the --file option,
       below.

       You can also specify a pseudo-package; these are used in the Debian bug
       tracking  system  to  track issues that are not related to one specific
       package.  Run reportbug without any arguments, then enter other at  the
       package	prompt,  to  see a list of the most commonly-used pseudo-pack
       ages.

OPTIONS
       The program follows the	usual  GNU  command  line  syntax,  with  long
       options	starting  with	two  dashes  (--).  A summary of options are
       included below.

       -h, --help
	      Show summary of options.

       --version
	      Show the version of reportbug and exit.

       -a, --af
	      Instead of spawning an editor to revise the bug report, use  the
	      af mail reader to edit and send it.

       -A FILENAME, --attach=FILENAME
	      Attach  a file to the bug report; both text and binary files are
	      acceptable.  This routine will create a MIME attachment with the
	      file  included; in some cases (usually text files), it is proba
	      bly better to use --include.  (Please  note  that  Debians  bug
	      tracking system has limited support for MIME attachments.)

       -b, --no-query-bts
	      Dont  check the Debian bug tracking system to see if this prob
	      lem has already been reported; useful  for  offline  use	or  if
	      youre really sure its a bug.

       --query-bts
	      Check  the Debian bug tracking system to see if this problem has
	      already been reported (default).

       -B SYSTEM, --bts=SYSTEM
	      Instead of the Debian bug server (or the bug server specified in
	      /etc/reportbug.conf,  use  the  server specified by SYSTEM.  You
	      can specify help to get a list of supported servers.

       --body=BODY
	      Use the specified BODY as the body of  the  message.   The  body
	      text  will  be  wrapped  at 70 columns, and the normal reportbug
	      headers and footers will be added as  appropriate.   The	editor
	      prompt and any "special" prompting will be bypassed.

       --body-file=BODYFILE
	      The  contents  of the (assumed to be) text file BODYFILE will be
	      used as the message body.  This file is assumed to  be  properly
	      formatted (i.e. reasonable line lengths, etc.).  The usual head
	      ers and footers will be added, and the editor step and "special"
	      prompts  will  be  skipped.  (BODYFILE may also be a named pipe;
	      using a device special file may lead to unusual results.)

       -c, --no-config-files
	      Omit configuration files from the bug report without asking.  By
	      default,	you  are  asked  if  you want to include them; in some
	      cases, doing so may cause sensitive information to be  sent  via
	      email.

       --configure
	      Rerun  the reportbug first time configuration routine, and write
	      a new .reportbugrc file.	This will erase any pre-existing  set
	      tings in the file; however, a backup will be written as .report
	      bugrc~.

       --check-available
	      Check for newer releases of the package  at  packages.debian.org
	      (default).

       --no-check-available
	      Do  not  check  for  newer  releases  of	the  package  at pack
	      ages.debian.org.

       -d, --debug
	      Dont send a real bug report to  Debian;  send  it  to  yourself
	      instead.	 This is primarily used for testing by the maintainer.

       -e EDITOR, --editor=EDITOR
	      Specify the editor to use, overriding any EDITOR or VISUAL envi
	      ronment variable setting.

       --email=ADDRESS
	      Set  the email address your report should appear to be sent from
	      (i.e. the address that  appears  in  the	From:  header).   This
	      should  be  the  actual  Internet email address on its own (i.e.
	      without a real name or comment part).  This setting  will  over
	      ride  the  EMAIL	and  DEBEMAIL  environment  variables, but not
	      REPORTBUGEMAIL.

       --exit-prompt
	      Display a prompt before exiting; this is useful if reportbug  is
	      run in a transient terminal (i.e. from its Debian menu entry).

       -f FILENAME, --filename=FILENAME
	      Report  a  bug  in  the package containing FILENAME so you dont
	      have to figure out what package the file belongs to.   The  path
	      will  be searched for an exact path for FILENAME before attempt
	      ing to broaden the search to all files.

       --path If the -f option is also specified, only search the path for the
	      specified  FILENAME.   Specifying  an  absolute path with the -f
	      option (i.e. one beginning with a /) overrides this behavior.

       -g, --gnupg, --gpg
	      Attach a digital signature to the bug report  using  GnuPG  (the
	      GNU  Privacy  Guard).  (This argument will be ignored if you are
	      using an MUA to edit and send your report.)

       -G, --gnus
	      Use the GNUS mail and news reader to send  your  report,	rather
	      than using the editor.

       -H HEADER, --header=HEADER
	      Add a custom RFC 2822 header to your email; for example, to send
	      a carbon copy of the report  to  debian-68k@lists.linux-m68k.org
	      you could use -H X-Debbugs-CC: debian-68k@lists.linux-m68k.org

       -i FILE, --include=FILE
	      Include the specified file as part of the body of the message to
	      be  edited.   Can  be used multiple times to add multiple files;
	      text-only please!  From a suggestion by Michael Alan  Dorman  in
	      the bug bug list.  (See also the --attach option.)

       -I, --no-check-installed
	      Do  not  check  whether the package is installed before filing a
	      report.  This is generally only useful when filing a report on a
	      package you know is not installed on your system.

       --check-installed
	      Check if the specified package is installed when filing reports.
	      (This is the default behavior of reportbug.)

       -j JUSTIFICATION, --justification=JUSTIFICATION
	      Bugs in Debian  that  have  "serious",  "grave",	or  "critical"
	      severities  must meet certain criteria to be classified as such.
	      This option allows  you  to  specify  the  justification	for  a
	      release-critical bug, instead of being prompted for it.

       -k, --kudos
	      Send  appreciative  email  to  the  recorded maintainer address,
	      rather than filing a bug report.	(You can also  send  kudos  to
	      packagename@packages.debian.org,	for  packages  in  the	Debian
	      archive; however, this option uses the Maintainer  address  from
	      the control file, so it works with other package sources too.)

       -K KEYID, --keyid=KEYID
	      Private  key to use for PGP/GnuPG signatures.  If not specified,
	      the first key in the secret  keyring  that  matches  your  email
	      address will be used.

       --license
	      Show  reportbugs	copyright and license information on standard
	      output.

       --list-cc=ADDRESS
	      Send a carbon copy of the report to the specified list  after  a
	      report  number is assigned; this is the equivalent to the option
	      -H X-Debbugs-CC: ADDRESS.   This	option	will  only  work  as
	      intended with debbugs systems.

       -m, --maintonly
	      Only  send  the  bug to the package maintainer; the bug tracking
	      system will not send a  copy  to	the  bug  report  distribution
	      lists.

       --mode=MODE
	      Set  the	operating mode for reportbug.  reportbug currently has
	      four operating modes: novice (the default), standard,  advanced,
	      and expert.

	      novice  mode is designed to minimize prompting about things that
	      "ordinary users" would be unlikely to know or care about, shift
	      ing  the	triage	burden	onto the maintainer.  Checking for new
	      versions is only done for the stable distribution in this  mode.
	      It is currently the default mode.

	      standard	mode  is more-or-less equivalent to the prompting that
	      was provided by reportbug 1.50 and earlier; it includes a  rela
	      tively  large  number of prompts and tries to encourage users to
	      not file frivolous or duplicate bug reports.

	      advanced mode is like standard mode, but may  include  shortcuts
	      suitable	for  more  advanced  users of Debian, without being as
	      close to the metal  (and	potential  flamage)  as  expert  mode.
	      (Currently,  the only differences from standard mode are that it
	      assumes familiarity with the "incoming"  queue;  it  allows  the
	      reporting  of  bugs  on  "dependency"  packages; and it does not
	      prompt where to insert the report text in the editor.)

	      expert mode is designed to minimize prompts that are designed to
	      discourage  frivolous  or  unnecessary  bug  reports,  "severity
	      inflation," and the like.  In expert mode, reportbug assumes the
	      user  is thoroughly familiar with Debian policies.  In practice,
	      this means that reporters are no longer required to justify set
	      ting  a  high  severity  on  a bug report, and certain automated
	      cleanups of the message are bypassed.  Individuals  who  do  not
	      regularly  contribute  to the Debian project are highly discour
	      aged from using expert mode, as it  can  lead  to  flamage  from
	      maintainers when used improperly.

       -M, --mutt
	      Instead  of spawning an editor to revise the bug report, use the
	      mutt mail reader to edit and send it.

       --mta=
	      Specify an alternate MTA,  instead  of  /usr/sbin/sendmail  (the
	      default).  Any smtphost setting will override this one.

       --mua= 

Yals.net is © 1999-2009 Crescendo Communications
Sharing tech info on the web for more than a decade!
This page was generated Thu Apr 30 17:05:22 2009