So You Want to Contribute…

For general information on contributing to OpenStack, please check out the contributor guide to get started. It covers all the basics that are common to all OpenStack projects: the accounts you need, the basics of interacting with our Gerrit review system, how we communicate as a community, etc.

Below will cover the more project specific information you need to get started with the Glance project, which is responsible for the following OpenStack deliverables:

glance
The OpenStack Image service.
code: https://opendev.org/openstack/glance
docs: https://glance.openstack.org
api-ref: https://docs.openstack.org/api-ref/image
Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/glance
glance_store
Glance’s stores library.
code: https://opendev.org/openstack/glance_store
docs: https://docs.openstack.org/glance_store
Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/glance_store
python-glanceclient
Python client library for the OpenStack Image API; includes a CLI shell.
code: https://opendev.org/openstack/python-glanceclient
docs: https://docs.openstack.org/python-glanceclient
Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/python-glanceclient

See the CONTRIBUTING.rst file in each code repository for more information about contributing to that specific deliverable. Additionally, you should look over the docs links above; most components have helpful developer information specific to that deliverable.

Communication

IRC

People working on the Glance project may be found in the #openstack-glance channel on OFTC during working hours in their timezone. The channel is logged, so if you ask a question when no one is around, you can check the log to see if it’s been answered: http://eavesdrop.openstack.org/irclogs/%23openstack-glance/

weekly meeting

Thursdays at 14:00 UTC in #openstack-meeting on OFTC. Meetings are logged: http://eavesdrop.openstack.org/meetings/glance/

More information (including a link to the Agenda, some pointers on meeting etiquette, and an ICS file to put the meeting on your calendar) can be found at: http://eavesdrop.openstack.org/#Glance_Team_Meeting

mailing list

We use the openstack-discuss@lists.openstack.org mailing list for asynchronous discussions or to communicate with other OpenStack teams. Use the prefix [glance] in your subject line (it’s a high-volume list, so most people use email filters).

More information about the mailing list, including how to subscribe and read the archives, can be found at: http://lists.openstack.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/openstack-discuss

physical meet-ups

The Glance project usually has a presence at the OpenDev/OpenStack Project Team Gathering that takes place at the beginning of each development cycle. Planning happens on an etherpad whose URL is announced at the weekly meetings and on the mailing list.

Contacting the Core Team

The glance-core team is an active group of contributors who are responsible for directing and maintaining the Glance project. As a new contributor, your interaction with this group will be mostly through code reviews, because only members of glance-core can approve a code change to be merged into the code repository.

Note

Although your contribution will require reviews by members of glance-core, these aren’t the only people whose reviews matter. Anyone with a gerrit account can post reviews, so you can ask other developers you know to review your code … and you can review theirs. (A good way to learn your way around the codebase is to review other people’s patches.)

If you’re thinking, “I’m new at this, how can I possibly provide a helpful review?”, take a look at How to Review Changes the OpenStack Way.

You can learn more about the role of core reviewers in the OpenStack governance documentation: https://docs.openstack.org/contributors/common/governance.html#core-reviewer

The membership list of glance-core is maintained in gerrit: https://review.opendev.org/#/admin/groups/13,members

You can also find the members of the glance-core team at the Glance weekly meetings.

New Feature Planning

The Glance project uses both “specs” and “blueprints” to track new features. Here’s a quick rundown of what they are and how the Glance project uses them.

specs
Exist in the glance-specs repository. Each spec must have a Launchpad blueprint (see below) associated with it for tracking purposes.
A spec is required for any new Glance core feature, anything that changes the Image API, or anything that entails a mass change to existing drivers.
The specs repository is: https://opendev.org/openstack/glance-specs
It contains a README.rst file explaining how to file a spec.
You can read rendered specs docs at:
https://specs.openstack.org/openstack/glance-specs/
blueprints
Exist in Launchpad, where they can be targeted to release milestones.
You file one at https://blueprints.launchpad.net/glance

You can learn more about new feature planning: https://docs.openstack.org/glance/latest/contributor/blueprints.html

Feel free to ask in #openstack-glance or at the weekly meeting if you have an idea you want to develop and you’re not sure whether it requires a blueprint and a spec or simply a blueprint.

The Glance project observes the following deadlines. For the current development cycle, the dates of each (and a more detailed description) may be found on the release schedule, which you can find from: https://releases.openstack.org/

  • spec freeze (all specs must be approved by this date)

  • new driver merge deadline

  • new target driver merge deadline

  • new feature status checkpoint

  • third-party CI compliance checkpoint

Additionally, the Glance project observes the OpenStack-wide deadlines, for example, final release of non-client libraries (glance_store), final release for client libraries (python-glanceclient), feature freeze, etc. These are also noted and explained on the release schedule for the current development cycle.

Task Tracking

We track our tasks in Launchpad. See the top of the page for the URL of each Glance project deliverable.

If you’re looking for some smaller, easier work item to pick up and get started on, search for the ‘low-hanging-fruit’ tag in the Bugs section.

When you start working on a bug, make sure you assign it to yourself. Otherwise someone else may also start working on it, and we don’t want to duplicate efforts. Also, if you find a bug in the code and want to post a fix, make sure you file a bug (and assign it to yourself!) just in case someone else comes across the problem in the meantime.

Reporting a Bug

You found an issue and want to make sure we are aware of it? You can do so in the Launchpad space for the affected deliverable:

Getting Your Patch Merged

The Glance project policy is that a patch must have two +2s before it can be merged. (Exceptions are documentation changes, which require only a single +2, and specs, for which the PTL may require more than two +2s, depending on the complexity of the proposal.)

Patches lacking unit tests are unlikely to be approved.

In addition, some changes may require a release note. Any patch that changes functionality, adds functionality, or addresses a significant bug should have a release note. You can find more information about how to write a release note in the Release Notes section of the Glance Contributors Guide.

Keep in mind that the best way to make sure your patches are reviewed in a timely manner is to review other people’s patches. We’re engaged in a cooperative enterprise here.

You can see who’s been doing what with Glance recently in Stackalytics: https://www.stackalytics.com/report/activity?module=glance-group

Project Team Lead Duties

All common PTL duties are enumerated in the PTL guide.

Additional responsibilities for the Glance PTL can be found by reading through the Managing the Development Cycle section of the Glance documentation.