Developer FAQ (frequently asked questions)

Here are some answers to frequently-asked questions from IRC and elsewhere.

How do I...

...create a migration script template?

Using the ironic-dbsync revision command, e.g:

$ cd ironic
$ tox -evenv -- ironic-dbsync revision -m \"create foo table\"

It will create an empty alembic migration. For more information see the alembic documentation.

...know if a release note is needed for my change?

Reno documentation contains a description of what can be added to each section of a release note. If, after reading this, you’re still unsure about whether to add a release note for your change or not, keep in mind that it is intended to contain information for deployers, so changes to unit tests or documentation are unlikely to require one.

...create a new release note?

By running reno command via tox, e.g:

$ tox -e venv -- reno new version-foo
  venv create: /home/foo/ironic/.tox/venv
  venv installdeps: -r/home/foo/ironic/test-requirements.txt
  venv develop-inst: /home/foo/ironic
  venv runtests: PYTHONHASHSEED='0'
  venv runtests: commands[0] | reno new version-foo
  Created new notes file in releasenotes/notes/version-foo-ecb3875dc1cbf6d9.yaml
    venv: commands succeeded
    congratulations :)

$ git status
  On branch test
  Untracked files:
    (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)

    releasenotes/notes/version-foo-ecb3875dc1cbf6d9.yaml

Then edit the result file. Note that:

  • we prefer to use present tense in release notes. For example, a release note should say “Adds support for feature foo”, not “Added support for feature foo”. (We use ‘adds’ instead of ‘add’ because grammatically, it is “ironic adds support”, not “ironic add support”.)
  • any variant of English spelling (American, British, Canadian, Australian...) is acceptable. The release note itself should be consistent and not have different spelling variants of the same word.

For more information see the reno documentation.

...get a decision on something?

You have an issue and would like a decision to be made. First, make sure that the issue hasn’t already been addressed, by looking at documentation, bugs, specifications, or asking. Information and links can be found on the Ironic wiki page.

There are several ways to solicit comments and opinions:

If there are enough core folks at the weekly meeting, after discussing an issue, voting could happen and a decision could be made. The problem with IRC or the weekly meeting is that feedback will only come from the people that are actually present.

To inform (and solicit feedback from) more people about an issue, the preferred process is:

  1. bring it up on the mailing list
  2. after some period of time has elapsed (and depending on the thread activity), someone should propose a solution via gerrit. (E.g. the person that started the thread if no one else steps up.) The proposal should be made in the git repository that is associated with the issue. (For instance, this decision process was proposed as a documentation patch to the ironic repository.)
  3. In the email thread, don’t forget to provide a link to the proposed patch!
  4. The discussion then moves to the proposed patch. If this is a big decision, we could declare that some percentage of the cores should vote on it before landing it.

(This process was suggested in an email thread about process for making decisions.)