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SRU Verification is the process of testing packages from the -proposed repository, that have been updated to fix bugs. These packages need testing to ensure that the package continues to function as designed and that the bug is fixed. It is also important to ensure no regression has been introduced by the fix. More information about the process can be found at Stable Release Update page. To find out how to enable -proposed look at the Enable Proposed page.

How to find bugs needing verification

There are many ways to find bugs needing SRU verification: by viewing the SRU To Do or Pending Ubuntu SRUs or by querying Launchpad for the bug tag verification-needed or by looking at bugs which the SRU verification team is subscribed.

The Pending Ubuntu SRUs are generated by parsing the changelogs of the packages in -proposed repository. By clicking on changelog bugs entry you will be taken to the Launchpad bug report (if it exists). Some bugs resolved by -proposed packages require specific hardware and these can be identified by the hw-specific tag in Launchpad or by the (hw) next to the bug number at the Pending Ubuntu SRUs page.

Identifying how to test

The first step in identifying how to test, is determining the release or releases of Ubuntu affected by the particular bug. This can be done by looking at the bug report and determining the release affected by the bug.

In the example below the Postgresql8.1 bug affects the Dapper, Feisty, Gutsy and Hardy releases of Ubuntu and should be verified in each one.

• Click to zoom

Alternatively, at the Pending Ubuntu SRUs page there are sections for each release of Ubuntu that is currently supported.

In addition to knowing the release or releases of Ubuntu affected you also need to have detailed steps to recreate the bug. These can be found in the "TEST CASE" section at the end of the bug's description. Bug 172264 has an example of what the test case will look like.

How to perform the test

After booting into the affected release of Ubuntu the following steps should be taken:

1. Ensure that your system is up to date by installing all available updated packages from the -updates and -security repositories
2. Verify that you do not have the proposed package installed by checking the package version using 'dpkg -l PKGNAME | cat'
3. Recreate the bug using the steps identified in the "TEST CASE"
4. Modify your '/etc/apt/sources.list' file to include the -proposed repository

   • deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-proposed main restricted universe

5. Execute 'sudo apt-get update'
6. Install the proposed package via 'sudo apt-get install PKGNAME' or 'sudo apt-get install PKGNAME=VERSION-NUM'
7. Verify that you installed the correct package version using 'dpkg -l PKGNAME | cat'
8. Reboot the system
9. Try to recreate the bug using the steps identified in the "TEST CASE"
10. Use the software installed by the package in common ways

Updating the bug report

Include: Nothing found for "[[Anchor"!

Ways to test using virtual machines

In the event that your current release of Ubuntu is not the same as the release of Ubuntu affected by the bug there are still many ways for you to perform the verification of the Stable Release Update without installing the affected release on your hardware. This can be done by using an emulator such as Virtual Box, kvm, qemu or VMware. Virtual machines images for VMware are available at http://isv-image.ubuntu.com/vmware/. Depending on the nature of the bug report it may also be possible to use a chroot to perform the verification.