Submitting Patches

(Updated: Dec 2009)

NOTICE: A transition from CVS to Git took place on Monday, December 14. For more information about the transition, see the Git Transition Notice. For details about how to migrate to Git, see Migrating to Git.

When you are ready to have your patch reviewed, follow the process described below for submitting it using Bugzilla.

Note: It is sometimes desirable to solicit reviews of a patch on the [mailto:lustre-devel@lists.lustre.org lustre-devel] mailing list to expose the patch to a wider audience. However, this will NOT put the patch on track to being accepted into the Lustre™ repository.

Submitting Patches for Review
To have your changes accepted into a mainline Lustre branch, your code must be reviewed and approved by senior Lustre engineers. Following these steps will speed up review of your changes and increase the likelihood of success:

1. Read, complete, and return the form found at [[Media:Sun_Contributor_Agreement_1_5.pdf|Contributor Agreement]]. We cannot accept your contributions without this form. See Contribution Policy for more information.

2. Testing the patch is required before it can be submitted. The patch must include any new tests specific to the bug/feature. See Testing Lustre Code for specific details. If you have completed testing of the patch, set the "acc-sm_passed_release" flag to "+" for the branch(es) that passed testing in step 4 below.

3. Generate a patch with diff -upN, git diff, or git format-patch. Please do not send other kinds of patches unless your reviewer requests them.

The command for generating a patch is: [lustre]$ git diff {basebranch} > {patchname}.diff where {basebranch} is the branch you are patching against (b1_6, b1_8, or master). Note this patch will include committed and uncommitted changes on your branch. If you have nicely squashed your commit history, feel free to use git format-patch. If you are unfamiliar with this process, use git diff.

If sending changes with git format-patch we ask that you follow the standard commit message format when making your commits, so that the patch can more easily be identified in the future. If you are doing a rebase, you will get a chance to modify/combine your commit messages. Commit messages for final patches should look like this: b= 



i= i=

If you are not using git format-patch, then simply adding the above lines at the start of the submission email is enough.

4. Find or file a bug corresponding to your contribution in Bugzilla. For more information about Bugzilla, see the Developers Guide to Bugzilla, the Bugzilla - Bug Writing Guidelines, or the Bugzilla User Guide.


 * Provide the patch as an Attachment (click on "Add an Attachment")
 * Select the "patch" box.
 * If submitting a new bug with a patch attached, follow normal bug submission procedures. The support team will assign the bug and inspections as appropriate.
 * If working with an Lustre internal engineer, under "Flags" set the inspection flag to "?" and copy the email address of the engineer into the adjacent Requestee: field.
 * If you have not been collaborating with someone on the Lustre team and don't know who should review your work, assign the inspection to lustre-rmg-team@sun.com
 * Click on "commit" to submit the attachment and inspection request.

5. One or more reviewers will submit comments regarding your patch. Iterate the patch until you receive inspection approval or the bug is closed.

6. Once you have approval, mail the patch to [mailto:lustre-gate-20@sun.com lustre-gate-20] for Lustre 2.0, or [mailto:lustre-gate-18@sun.com lustre-gate-18] for Lustre 1.8. Include the bug number and reviewer in the commit message, along with a concise description of the change, as stated above.