View source for Ext4 Contributing

= Overview =

This page summarizes the process of contributing code to the ext4 kernel driver or to e2fsprogs.

= e2fsprogs =

# Clone the e2fsprogs git repo (git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/fs/ext2/e2fsprogs.git)
# (Optional) if you have a new enough gcc (4.8?), try configuring with <code>./configure --enable-gcov</code> for automatic code coverage reporting.
# Make your code modifications as you see fit.
# Write some functional tests (see tests/ for examples, and use <code>make testnew</code> to generate a new test) if you're writing new code.
# Run the regression suite: <code>make check</code>.  If you enabled gcov in step 2, run <code>make coverage.txt</code> to generate the coverage report.
# Wash, rinse, repeat until your code does what you want it to do.
# Static analysis, part 1: Run <code>make gcc-wall-new</code> to compile with all GCC warnings enabled.
# Static analysis, part 2: Run <code>make clean; make C=1</code> to check your code against sparse.
# Regression tests: Run <code>cd tests/; make test_script; ./test_script --valgrind-leakcheck</code> to look for memory leaks.
# When writing up your patches, please follow the guidelines in https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
# Run your patches through the kernel's style checker in <code>scripts/checkpatch.pl</code>.
# Send patches to the mailing list linux-ext4 at vger.kernel.org.

While Eric Sandeen and Ted T'so occasionally upload code snapshots to Coverity as an additional checkpoint, these steps can be performed by any developer.

= ext4 kernel =

# Clone the kernel git repo (git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git)
# Make your code modifications as you see fit.
# Build your code with static analysis enabled: <code>make C=1</code>.  Please fix the things it complains about, or discuss with the sparse developers if you think you have a false-positive.
# Run the appropriate testing suites against the kernel.  For functional testing of ext4, run xfstests (http://xfs.org/index.php/Getting_the_latest_source_code).  The tests in generic/, shared/, and ext4/ should all pass.  For interface testing of ext4, also consider running LTP (http://ltp.sourceforge.net/).
# Wash, rinse, repeat until your code does what you want it to do. 
# When writing up your patches, please follow the guidelines in https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/SubmittingPatchesn 
# Run your patches through the kernel's style checker in <code>scripts/checkpatch.pl</code>.
# Send patches to the mailing list linux-ext4 at vger.kernel.org.