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[tcpdump] / CONTRIBUTING.md
1 # Some Information for Contributors
2 Thank you for considering to make a contribution to tcpdump! Please use the
3 guidelines below to achieve the best results and experience for everyone.
4
5 ## How to report bugs and other problems
6 **To report a security issue (segfault, buffer overflow, infinite loop, arbitrary
7 code execution etc) please send an e-mail to security@tcpdump.org, do not use
8 the bug tracker!**
9
10 To report a non-security problem (failure to compile, incorrect output in the
11 protocol printout, missing support for a particular protocol etc) please check
12 first that it reproduces with the latest stable release of tcpdump and the latest
13 stable release of libpcap. If it does, please check that the problem reproduces
14 with the current git master branch of tcpdump and the current git master branch of
15 libpcap. If it does (and it is not a security-related problem, otherwise see
16 above), please navigate to the
17 [bug tracker](https://github.com/the-tcpdump-group/tcpdump/issues)
18 and check if the problem has already been reported. If it has not, please open
19 a new issue and provide the following details:
20
21 * tcpdump and libpcap version (`tcpdump --version`)
22 * operating system name and version and any other details that may be relevant
23 (`uname -a`, compiler name and version, CPU type etc.)
24 * custom `configure`/`cmake` flags, if any
25 * statement of the problem
26 * steps to reproduce
27
28 Please note that if you know exactly how to solve the problem and the solution
29 would not be too intrusive, it would be best to contribute some development time
30 and to open a pull request instead as discussed below.
31
32 Still not sure how to do? Feel free to
33 [subscribe to the mailing list](https://www.tcpdump.org/#mailing-lists)
34 and ask!
35
36
37 ## How to add new code and to update existing code
38
39 0) Check that there isn't a pull request already opened for the changes you
40 intend to make.
41
42 1) [Fork](https://help.github.com/articles/fork-a-repo/) the Tcpdump
43 [repository](https://github.com/the-tcpdump-group/tcpdump).
44
45 2) The easiest way to test your changes on multiple operating systems and
46 architectures is to let the upstream CI test your pull request (more on
47 this below).
48
49 3) Setup your git working copy
50 ```
51 git clone https://github.com/<username>/tcpdump.git
52 cd tcpdump
53 git remote add upstream https://github.com/the-tcpdump-group/tcpdump
54 git fetch upstream
55 ```
56
57 4) Do a `touch .devel` in your working directory.
58 Currently, the effect is
59 * add (via `configure`, in `Makefile`) some warnings options (`-Wall`,
60 `-Wmissing-prototypes`, `-Wstrict-prototypes`, ...) to the compiler if it
61 supports these options,
62 * have the `Makefile` support `make depend` and the `configure` script run it.
63
64 5) Configure and build
65 ```
66 ./configure && make -s && make check
67 ```
68
69 6) Add/update tests
70 The `tests` directory contains regression tests of the dissection of captured
71 packets. Those captured packets were saved running tcpdump with option
72 `-w sample.pcap`. Additional options, such as `-n`, are used to create relevant
73 and reproducible output; `-#` is used to indicate which particular packets
74 have output that differs. The tests are run with the `TZ` environment
75 variable set to `GMT0`, so that UTC, rather than the local time where the
76 tests are being run, is used when "local time" values are printed. The
77 actual test compares the current text output with the expected result
78 (`sample.out`) saved from a previous version.
79
80 Any new/updated fields in a dissector must be present in a `sample.pcap` file
81 and the corresponding output file.
82
83 Configuration is set in `tests/TESTLIST`.
84 Each line in this file has the following format:
85 ```
86 test-name sample.pcap sample.out tcpdump-options
87 ```
88
89 The `sample.out` file can be produced as follows:
90 ```
91 (cd tests && TZ=GMT0 ../tcpdump -# -n -r sample.pcap tcpdump-options > sample.out)
92 ```
93
94 Or, for convenience, use `./update-test.sh test-name`
95
96 It is often useful to have test outputs with different verbosity levels
97 (none, `-v`, `-vv`, `-vvv`, etc.) depending on the code.
98
99 7) Test using `make check` (current build options) and `./build_matrix.sh`
100 (a multitude of build options, build systems and compilers). If you can,
101 test on more than one operating system. Don't send a pull request until
102 all tests pass.
103
104 8) Try to rebase your commits to keep the history simple.
105 ```
106 git fetch upstream
107 git rebase upstream/master
108 ```
109 (If the rebase fails and you cannot resolve, issue `git rebase --abort`
110 and ask for help in the pull request comment.)
111
112 9) Once 100% happy, put your work into your forked repository using `git push`.
113
114 10) [Initiate and send](https://help.github.com/articles/using-pull-requests/)
115 a pull request.
116 This will trigger the upstream repository CI tests.
117
118
119 ## Code style and generic remarks
120 * A thorough reading of some other printers code is useful.
121
122 * To help learn how tcpdump works or to help debugging:
123 You can configure and build tcpdump with the instrumentation of functions:
124 ```
125 $ ./configure --enable-instrument-functions
126 $ make -s clean all
127 ```
128
129 This generates instrumentation calls for entry and exit to functions.
130 Just after function entry and just before function exit, these
131 profiling functions are called and print the function names with
132 indentation and call level.
133
134 If entering in a function, it prints also the calling function name with
135 file name and line number. There may be a small shift in the line number.
136
137 In some cases, with Clang 11, the file number is unknown (printed '??')
138 or the line number is unknown (printed '?'). In this case, use GCC.
139
140 If the environment variable INSTRUMENT is
141 - unset or set to an empty string, print nothing, like with no
142 instrumentation
143 - set to "all" or "a", print all the functions names
144 - set to "global" or "g", print only the global functions names
145
146 This allows to run:
147 ```
148 $ INSTRUMENT=a ./tcpdump ...
149 $ INSTRUMENT=g ./tcpdump ...
150 $ INSTRUMENT= ./tcpdump ...
151 ```
152 or
153 ```
154 $ export INSTRUMENT=global
155 $ ./tcpdump ...
156 ```
157
158 The library libbfd is used, therefore the binutils-dev package is required.
159
160 * Put the normative reference if any as comments (RFC, etc.).
161
162 * Put the format of packets/headers/options as comments if there is no
163 published normative reference.
164
165 * The printer may receive incomplete packet in the buffer, truncated at any
166 random position, for example by capturing with `-s size` option.
167 If your code reads and decodes every byte of the protocol packet, then to
168 ensure proper and complete bounds checks it would be sufficient to read all
169 packet data using the `GET_*()` macros, typically:
170 ```
171 GET_U_1(p)
172 GET_S_1(p)
173 GET_BE_U_n(p), n in { 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 }
174 GET_BE_S_n(p), n in { 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 }
175 ```
176 If your code uses the macros above only on some packet data, then the gaps
177 would have to be bounds-checked using the `ND_TCHECK_*()` macros:
178 ```
179 ND_TCHECK_n(p), n in { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 16 }
180 ND_TCHECK_SIZE(p)
181 ND_TCHECK_LEN(p, l)
182 ```
183 For the `ND_TCHECK_*` macros (if not already done):
184 * Assign: `ndo->ndo_protocol = "protocol";`
185 * Define: `ND_LONGJMP_FROM_TCHECK` before including `netdissect.h`
186 * Make sure that the intersection of `GET_*()` and `ND_TCHECK_*()` is minimal,
187 but at the same time their union covers all packet data in all cases.
188
189 You can test the code via:
190 ```
191 sudo ./tcpdump -s snaplen [-v][v][...] -i lo # in a terminal
192 sudo tcpreplay -i lo sample.pcap # in another terminal
193 ```
194 You should try several values for snaplen to do various truncation.
195
196 * Do invalid packet checks in code: Think that your code can receive in input
197 not only a valid packet but any arbitrary random sequence of octets (packet
198 * built malformed originally by the sender or by a fuzz tester,
199 * became corrupted in transit or for some other reason).
200
201 Print with: `nd_print_invalid(ndo); /* to print " (invalid)" */`
202
203 * Use `struct tok` for indexed strings and print them with
204 `tok2str()` or `bittok2str()` (for flags).
205
206 * Avoid empty lines in output of printers.
207
208 * A commit message must have:
209 ```
210 First line: Capitalized short summary in the imperative (50 chars or less)
211
212 If the commit concerns a protocol, the summary line must start with
213 "protocol: ".
214
215 Body: Detailed explanatory text, if necessary. Fold it to approximately
216 72 characters. There must be an empty line separating the summary from
217 the body.
218 ```
219
220 * Avoid non-ASCII characters in code and commit messages.
221
222 * Use the style of the modified sources.
223
224 * Don't mix declarations and code.
225
226 * Don't use `//` for comments.
227 Not all C compilers accept C++/C99 comments by default.
228
229 * Avoid trailing tabs/spaces