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= 
	      Instead  of spawning an editor to revise the bug report, use the
	      specified MUA (mail user agent) to edit and send it.  The option
	      should  be used to tell your mail reader to interpret the report
	      as a draft message.  For examples of how this works, see how the
	      --mutt, --nmh and --af options are processed.

       -n, --nmh, --mh
	      Instead  of spawning an editor to revise the bug report, use the
	      comp command (part of the nmh and mh mail systems) to  edit  and
	      send it.

       -o FILE, --output=FILE
	      Instead  of sending an email, redirect it to the specified file
	      name.

       -O, --offline
	      Disable all external queries.  Currently has the same effect  as
	      --no-check-available --no-query-bts.

       -p, --print
	      Instead  of  sending  an email, print the bug report to standard
	      output, so you can redirect it to a file or pipe it  to  another
	      program.

	      This  option  only outputs a template for a bug report; you will
	      need to fill in the long description.

       --paranoid
	      Show the contents of the message before it  is  sent,  including
	      all headers.  Automatically disabled if in template mode.

       --no-paranoid
	      Dont  show  the  full contents of the message before it is sent
	      (default).

       --pgp  Attach a digital signature to the bug report using  PGP  (Pretty
	      Good Privacy).  Please note, however, that the Debian project is
	      phasing out the use of PGP in favor of  GnuPG.   (This  argument
	      will be ignored if using an MUA to edit and send your report.)

       --proxy=PROXY, --http_proxy=PROXY
	      Specify  the  WWW proxy server to use to handle the query of the
	      bug tracking system.  You should only need this parameter if you
	      are  behind  a firewall.	The PROXY argument should be formatted
	      as a valid HTTP URL, including (if necessary) a port number; for
	      example, http://192.168.1.1:3128/.

       -q, --quiet
	      Suppress diagnostic messages to standard error.

       -Q, --query-only
	      Do  not submit a bug report; just query the BTS.	Option ignored
	      if you specify --no-bts-query.

       --query-source
	      Query on all binary packages built by the same source, not  just
	      the binary package specified.  (Default behavior as of reportbug
	      2.0)

       --no-query-source
	      Only query on the binary package specified on the command  line.

       --realname=NAME
	      Set  the real name (human-readable name) to use for your report.

       --report-quiet
	      Register the bug in the bug tracking system, but	dont  send  a
	      report  to the package maintainer or anyone else.  Dont do this
	      unless youre the maintainer of the package in question, or  you
	      really know what you are doing.

       --reply-to=ADDRESS, --replyto=ADDRESS
	      Set the Reply-To address header in your report.

       -s SUBJECT, --subject=SUBJECT
	      Set  the	subject of the bug report (i.e. a brief explanation of
	      the problem, less than 60 characters).  If you  do  not  specify
	      this switch, you will be prompted for a subject.

       -S SEVERITY, --severity=SEVERITY
	      Specify  a severity level, from critical, grave, serious, impor
	      tant, normal, minor, and wishlist.

       --smtphost=HOST[:PORT]
	      Use the mail transport agent (MTA) at HOST to send your  report,
	      instead  of  your local /usr/sbin/sendmail program.  This should
	      generally be your ISPs outgoing mail server; you can  also  use
	      localhost  if  you  have a working mail server running on your
	      machine.	If the PORT is omitted, the standard  port  for  SMTP,
	      port 25, is used.

       --tls  If  using SMTP, use Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption to
	      secure the connection to the mail server.  Some SMTP servers may
	      require this option.

       --smtpuser=USERNAME
	      If using SMTP, use the specified USERNAME for authentication.

       --smtppasswd=PASSWORD
	      If  using  SMTP,	use the specified PASSWORD for authentication.
	      If the password isnt specified on the command line  or  in  the
	      configuration file, a prompt will be displayed asking for it.

	      Use  of  this option is insecure on multiuser systems.  Instead,
	      you should set this option in .reportbugrc and ensure it is only
	      readable	by your user (e.g. with chmod 600 $HOME/.reportbugrc).

       -t TYPE, --type=TYPE
	      Specify the type of report to be	submitted;  currently  accepts
	      either gnats or debbugs.

       -T TAG, --tag=TAG
	      Specify	a  tag	to  be	filed  on  this  report,  for  example
	      --tag=patch.  Multiple tags can be specified using  multiple  -T
	      or --tag arguments.

	      Alternatively, you can specify the tag none to bypass the tags
	      prompt without specifying any tags; this will  also  ignore  any
	      tags specified on the command line.

       --template
	      Output a template report to standard output.

       -v, --verify
	      Verify the integrity of the package (if installed) using debsums
	      before reporting.

       -V VERSION, --package-version=VERSION
	      Specify the version of the package the  problem  was  found  in.
	      This  is	probably  most	useful if you are reporting a bug in a
	      package that is not installable or installed on a different sys
	      tem.

       -x, --no-cc
	      Dont  send  a  blind carbon copy (BCC) of the bug report to the
	      submitter (i.e. yourself).

       -z, --no-compress
	      Dont compress configuration  files  by  removing	comments  and
	      blank lines.

EXAMPLES
       reportbug lynx-ssl
	      Report a bug in the lynx-ssl package.

       reportbug --path --file=ls
	      Report a bug in the installed package that includes a program in
	      your path called ls.

CONFIGURATION FILES
       From version 0.22 on, reportbug has supported a simple run control file
       syntax.	 Commands are read from /etc/reportbug.conf and $HOME/.report
       bugrc with commands in the latter overriding those in the former.  Com
       mands  are  not	case  sensitive,  and currently take 0 or 1 arguments;
       arguments containing whitespace must be enclosed in quotes.   Any  line
       starting with # is taken to be a comment and will be ignored.

       Generally,  options corresponding to the GNU long options for reportbug
       are  supported,	without  leading  --  sequences.   See	 the   default
       /etc/reportbug.conf for all acceptable options.

ENVIRONMENT
       VISUAL Editor to use for editing your bug report.

       EDITOR Editor to use for editing the bug report (overridden by VISUAL).

       EMAIL, REPORTBUGEMAIL, DEBEMAIL
	      Email address to use as your from address; default is taken from
	      your user name and /etc/mailname.

       DEBFULLNAME, DEBNAME, NAME
	      Real name to use; default is taken from /etc/passwd.

       REPLYTO
	      Address for Reply-To header in outgoing mail.

       MAILCC Use  the	specified CC address on your email.  Note you can also
	      use the -H option for this (and for Bccs too).

       MAILBCC
	      Use the specified BCC address, instead of  your  email  address.
	      (CC and BCC based on suggestions from Herbert Thielen in the bug
	      wishlist).

       http_proxy
	      Provides the address of a proxy server to handle the BTS	query.
	      This  should  be	a valid http URL for a proxy server, including
	      any required port number (simply specifying a hostname, or omit
	      ting a port other than 80, WILL NOT WORK).

NOTES
       Pythons	getopt module is pickier than GNU getopt() about the order of
       command line arguments; all switches must be specified before the pack
       age name.

       reportbug  should  probably  be compatible with other bug tracking sys
       tems, like bugzilla (used by the GNOME and Mozilla projects)  and  jit
       terbug (used by Samba, AbiSource and FreeCiv) but it isnt.

SEE ALSO
       http://www.debian.org/Bugs/Developer#tags     for    available	 tags,
       querybts(1)

AUTHOR
       Chris Lawrence .












								  reportbug(1)