github.com/phobos182/packer@v0.2.3-0.20130819023704-c84d2aeffc68/CONTRIBUTING.md (about)

     1  # Contributing to Packer
     2  
     3  **First:** if you're unsure or afraid of _anything_, just ask
     4  or submit the issue or pull request anyways. You won't be yelled at for
     5  giving your best effort. The worst that can happen is that you'll be
     6  politely asked to change something. We appreciate any sort of contributions,
     7  and don't want a wall of rules to get in the way of that.
     8  
     9  However, for those individuals who want a bit more guidance on the
    10  best way to contribute to the project, read on. This document will cover
    11  what we're looking for. By addressing all the points we're looking for,
    12  it raises the chances we can quickly merge or address your contributions.
    13  
    14  ## Issues
    15  
    16  ### Reporting an Issue
    17  
    18  * Make sure you test against the latest released version. It is possible
    19    we already fixed the bug you're experiencing.
    20  
    21  * Provide a reproducible test case. If a contributor can't reproduce an
    22    issue, then it dramatically lowers the chances it'll get fixed. And in
    23    some cases, the issue will eventually be closed.
    24  
    25  * Respond promptly to any questions made by the Packer team to your issue.
    26    Stale issues will be closed.
    27  
    28  ### Issue Lifecycle
    29  
    30  1. The issue is reported.
    31  
    32  2. The issue is verified and categorized by a Packer collaborator.
    33     Categorization is done via tags. For example, bugs are marked as "bugs"
    34     and easy fixes are marked as "easy".
    35  
    36  3. Unless it is critical, the issue is left for a period of time (sometimes
    37     many weeks), giving outside contributors a chance to address the issue.
    38  
    39  4. The issue is addressed in a pull request or commit. The issue will be
    40     referenced in the commit message so that the code that fixes it is clearly
    41     linked.
    42  
    43  5. The issue is closed.
    44  
    45  ## Setting up Go to work on Packer
    46  
    47  If you have never worked with Go before, you will have to complete the
    48  following steps in order to be able to compile and test Packer.
    49  
    50  1. Install Go. On a Mac, you can `brew install go`.
    51  
    52  2. Set and export the `GOPATH` environment variable. For example, you can
    53     add `export GOPATH=$HOME/Documents/golang` to your `.bash_profile`.
    54  
    55  3. Download the Packer source (and its dependencies) by running
    56     `go get github.com/mitchellh/packer`. This will download the Packer
    57     source to `$GOPATH/src/github.com/mitchellh/packer`.
    58  
    59  4. Make your changes to the Packer source. You can run `make` from the main
    60     source directory to recompile all the binaries. Any compilation errors
    61     will be shown when the binaries are rebuilding.
    62  
    63  5. Test your changes by running `make test` and then running
    64     `$GOPATH/src/github.com/mitchellh/packer/bin/packer` to build a machine.
    65  
    66  6. If everything works well and the tests pass, run `go fmt` on your code
    67     before submitting a pull request.