1 How to Submit Patches for Open vSwitch
2 ======================================
4 Send changes to Open vSwitch as patches to dev@openvswitch.org.
5 One patch per email, please. More details are included below.
7 If you are using Git, then `git format-patch` takes care of most of
8 the mechanics described below for you.
13 Before you send patches at all, make sure that each patch makes sense.
16 - A given patch should not break anything, even if later
17 patches fix the problems that it causes. The source tree
18 should still build and work after each patch is applied.
19 (This enables `git bisect` to work best.)
21 - A patch should make one logical change. Don't make
22 multiple, logically unconnected changes to disparate
23 subsystems in a single patch.
25 - A patch that adds or removes user-visible features should
26 also update the appropriate user documentation or manpages.
28 Testing is also important:
30 - A patch that modifies existing code should be tested with
31 `make check` before submission.
33 - A patch that adds or deletes files should also be tested with
34 `make distcheck` before submission.
36 - A patch that modifies Linux kernel code should be at least
37 build-tested on various Linux kernel versions before
38 submission. I suggest versions 2.6.32 and whatever
39 the current latest release version is at the time.
41 - A patch that modifies the ofproto or vswitchd code should be
42 tested in at least simple cases before submission.
44 - A patch that modifies xenserver code should be tested on
45 XenServer before submission.
47 If you are using GitHub, then you may utilize the travis-ci.org CI build
48 system by linking your GitHub repository to it. This will run some of
49 the above tests automatically when you push changes to your repository.
50 See the "Continuous Integration with Travis-CI" in the [INSTALL.md] file
51 for details on how to set it up.
56 The subject line of your email should be in the following format:
57 `[PATCH <n>/<m>] <area>: <summary>`
59 - `[PATCH <n>/<m>]` indicates that this is the nth of a series
60 of m patches. It helps reviewers to read patches in the
61 correct order. You may omit this prefix if you are sending
64 - `<area>:` indicates the area of the Open vSwitch to which the
65 change applies (often the name of a source file or a
66 directory). You may omit it if the change crosses multiple
67 distinct pieces of code.
69 - `<summary>` briefly describes the change.
71 The subject, minus the `[PATCH <n>/<m>]` prefix, becomes the first line
72 of the commit's change log message.
77 The body of the email should start with a more thorough description of
78 the change. This becomes the body of the commit message, following
79 the subject. There is no need to duplicate the summary given in the
82 Please limit lines in the description to 79 characters in width.
84 The description should include:
86 - The rationale for the change.
88 - Design description and rationale (but this might be better
89 added as code comments).
91 - Testing that you performed (or testing that should be done
92 but you could not for whatever reason).
96 There is no need to describe what the patch actually changed, if the
97 reader can see it for himself.
99 If the patch refers to a commit already in the Open vSwitch
100 repository, please include both the commit number and the subject of
101 the patch, e.g. 'commit 632d136c (vswitch: Remove restriction on
104 If you, the person sending the patch, did not write the patch
105 yourself, then the very first line of the body should take the form
106 `From: <author name> <author email>`, followed by a blank line. This
107 will automatically cause the named author to be credited with
108 authorship in the repository.
113 The description ends with a series of tags, written one to a line as
114 the last paragraph of the email. Each tag indicates some property of
115 the patch in an easily machine-parseable manner.
117 Examples of common tags follow.
119 Signed-off-by: Author Name <author.name@email.address...>
121 Informally, this indicates that Author Name is the author or
122 submitter of a patch and has the authority to submit it under
123 the terms of the license. The formal meaning is to agree to
124 the Developer's Certificate of Origin (see below).
126 If the author and submitter are different, each must sign off.
127 If the patch has more than one author, all must sign off.
129 Signed-off-by: Author Name <author.name@email.address...>
130 Signed-off-by: Submitter Name <submitter.name@email.address...>
132 Co-authored-by: Author Name <author.name@email.address...>
134 Git can only record a single person as the author of a given
135 patch. In the rare event that a patch has multiple authors,
136 one must be given the credit in Git and the others must be
137 credited via Co-authored-by: tags. (All co-authors must also
140 Acked-by: Reviewer Name <reviewer.name@email.address...>
142 Reviewers will often give an Acked-by: tag to code of which
143 they approve. It is polite for the submitter to add the tag
144 before posting the next version of the patch or applying the
145 patch to the repository. Quality reviewing is hard work, so
146 this gives a small amount of credit to the reviewer.
148 Not all reviewers give Acked-by: tags when they provide
149 positive reviews. It's customary only to add tags from
150 reviewers who actually provide them explicitly.
152 Tested-by: Tester Name <reviewer.name@email.address...>
154 When someone tests a patch, it is customary to add a
155 Tested-by: tag indicating that. It's rare for a tester to
156 actually provide the tag; usually the patch submitter makes
157 the tag himself in response to an email indicating successful
160 Reported-by: Reporter Name <reporter.name@email.address...>
162 When a patch fixes a bug reported by some person, please
163 credit the reporter in the commit log in this fashion. Please
164 also add the reporter's name and email address to the list of
165 people who provided helpful bug reports in the AUTHORS file at
166 the top of the source tree.
168 Fairly often, the reporter of a bug also tests the fix.
169 Occasionally one sees a combined "Reported-and-tested-by:" tag
170 used to indicate this. It is also acceptable, and more
171 common, to include both tags separately.
173 (If a bug report is received privately, it might not always be
174 appropriate to publicly credit the reporter. If in doubt,
175 please ask the reporter.)
177 Requested-by: Requester Name <requester.name@email.address...>
178 Suggested-by: Suggester Name <suggester.name@email.address...>
180 When a patch implements a request or a suggestion made by some
181 person, please credit that person in the commit log in this
182 fashion. For a helpful suggestion, please also add the
183 person's name and email address to the list of people who
184 provided suggestions in the AUTHORS file at the top of the
187 (If a suggestion or a request is received privately, it might
188 not always be appropriate to publicly give credit. If in
193 If a patch fixes or is otherwise related to a bug reported in
194 a public bug tracker, please include a reference to the bug in
195 the form of a URL to the specific bug, e.g.:
197 Reported-at: https://bugs.debian.org/743635
199 This is also an appropriate way to refer to bug report emails
200 in public email archives, e.g.:
202 Reported-at: http://openvswitch.org/pipermail/dev/2014-June/040952.html
207 If a patch fixes or is otherwise related to a bug reported in
208 a private bug tracker, you may include some tracking ID for
209 the bug for your own reference. Please include some
210 identifier to make the origin clear, e.g. "VMware-BZ" refers
211 to VMware's internal Bugzilla instance and "ONF-JIRA" refers
212 to the Open Networking Foundation's JIRA bug tracker.
217 These are obsolete forms of VMware-BZ: that can still be seen
218 in old change log entries. (They are obsolete because they do
219 not tell the reader what bug tracker is referred to.)
221 Developer's Certificate of Origin
222 ---------------------------------
224 To help track the author of a patch as well as the submission chain,
225 and be clear that the developer has authority to submit a patch for
226 inclusion in openvswitch please sign off your work. The sign off
227 certifies the following:
229 Developer's Certificate of Origin 1.1
231 By making a contribution to this project, I certify that:
233 (a) The contribution was created in whole or in part by me and I
234 have the right to submit it under the open source license
235 indicated in the file; or
237 (b) The contribution is based upon previous work that, to the best
238 of my knowledge, is covered under an appropriate open source
239 license and I have the right under that license to submit that
240 work with modifications, whether created in whole or in part
241 by me, under the same open source license (unless I am
242 permitted to submit under a different license), as indicated
245 (c) The contribution was provided directly to me by some other
246 person who certified (a), (b) or (c) and I have not modified
249 (d) I understand and agree that this project and the contribution
250 are public and that a record of the contribution (including all
251 personal information I submit with it, including my sign-off) is
252 maintained indefinitely and may be redistributed consistent with
253 this project or the open source license(s) involved.
258 If you want to include any comments in your email that should not be
259 part of the commit's change log message, put them after the
260 description, separated by a line that contains just `---`. It may be
261 helpful to include a diffstat here for changes that touch multiple
267 The patch should be in the body of the email following the description,
268 separated by a blank line.
270 Patches should be in `diff -up` format. We recommend that you use Git
271 to produce your patches, in which case you should use the `-M -C`
272 options to `git diff` (or other Git tools) if your patch renames or
273 copies files. Quilt (http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/quilt) might
274 be useful if you do not want to use Git.
276 Patches should be inline in the email message. Some email clients
277 corrupt white space or wrap lines in patches. There are hints on how
278 to configure many email clients to avoid this problem at:
279 http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=blob_plain;f=Documentation/email-clients.txt
280 If you cannot convince your email client not to mangle patches, then
281 sending the patch as an attachment is a second choice.
283 Please follow the style used in the code that you are modifying. The
284 [CodingStyle.md] file describes the coding style used in most of Open
285 vSwitch. Use Linux kernel coding style for Linux kernel code.
291 From fa29a1c2c17682879e79a21bb0cdd5bbe67fa7c0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
292 From: Jesse Gross <jesse@nicira.com>
293 Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2011 13:17:24 -0800
294 Subject: [PATCH] datapath: Alphabetize include/net/ipv6.h compat header.
296 Signed-off-by: Jesse Gross <jesse@nicira.com>
298 datapath/linux/Modules.mk | 2 +-
299 1 files changed, 1 insertions(+), 1 deletions(-)
301 diff --git a/datapath/linux/Modules.mk b/datapath/linux/Modules.mk
302 index fdd952e..f6cb88e 100644
303 --- a/datapath/linux/Modules.mk
304 +++ b/datapath/linux/Modules.mk
305 @@ -56,11 +56,11 @@ openvswitch_headers += \
306 linux/compat/include/net/dst.h \
307 linux/compat/include/net/genetlink.h \
308 linux/compat/include/net/ip.h \
309 + linux/compat/include/net/ipv6.h \
310 linux/compat/include/net/net_namespace.h \
311 linux/compat/include/net/netlink.h \
312 linux/compat/include/net/protocol.h \
313 linux/compat/include/net/route.h \
314 - linux/compat/include/net/ipv6.h \
315 linux/compat/genetlink.inc
317 both_modules += brcompat
322 [INSTALL.md]:INSTALL.md
323 [CodingStyle.md]:CodingStyle.md