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txwikinger
Asked: 2010-07-29 12:23:56 +0800 CST

How can I best retest a bug in a newer or development release?

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I have reported a bug that occurs in Karmic on launchpad, and I have been asked to re-test it on lucid or maverick. How can I do this best?

launchpad bug-reporting

5 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    For testing Maverick, testdrive is easiest. It'll automatically download the latest Maverick daily and run it in a Virtual Machine.

    sudo apt-get install testdrive virtualbox-ose
testdrive
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  2. Three routes:

    • Install Ubuntu in a VM.

      Pros: Your installation is persistent, and you can switch back and forth between the VM and your normal desktop with ease.

      Cons: It'll be slow.

    • Use a LiveCD.

      Pros: Most straightforward, same method as when you first installed Ubuntu.

      Cons: No persistence of session, your environment is lost when you restart.

    • Install on a separate machine. CD read times are sloooow.

      Pros: Persistence, speed.

      Cons: Expensive if you don't have the hardware.

    Personally, I'd go the VM route. You'll need to do with a LiveCD or physical install if your bug involves the hardware.

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  3. This depends on what bug you're trying to re-test. For almost all bugs, testing in a VM is great. As mentioned on another answer, Testdrive is good for that.

    For hardware related bugs you'll need to run on the real hardware, which means that a LiveCD is a more appropriate method.

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  4. I depends on what kind of bug it was (estethic, a program crash, etc) but the simplest way would be to download Lucid's live cd, boot it and see if you can reproduce the bug.

    If it's something that requires a real installation and it's not enough booting a live cd, then install Lucid on a virtual machine using VirtualBox, and you can test almost anything in there without affecting your current environment.

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  5. Without upgrading? You may need to setup a Virtual instance of Lucid or Maverick or install that specific version under a new partition on your machine. I find that VirtualBox works well (and is free) for Ubuntu.

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