Contributing - LXD documentation
Description: Check the following guidelines before contributing to the project. Pull requests: Changes to this project should be proposed as pull requests on GitHub at: https://github.com/canonical/lxd Proposed...

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# Contributing

Check the following guidelines before contributing to the project.

## Pull requests

Changes to this project should be proposed as pull requests on GitHub at: `https://github.com/canonical/lxd`

Proposed changes will then go through code review there and once approved, be merged in the main branch.

## Commit structure

Separate commits should be used for:

- API extension (`api: Add XYZ extension`, contains `doc/api-extensions.md` and `shared/version.api.go`)

- Documentation (`doc: Update XYZ` for files in `doc/`)

- API structure (`shared/api: Add XYZ` for changes to `shared/api/`)

- Go client package (`client: Add XYZ` for changes to `client/`)

- CLI (`lxc/<command>: Change XYZ` for changes to `lxc/`)

- Scripts (`scripts: Update bash completion for XYZ` for changes to `scripts/`)

- LXD daemon (`lxd/<package>: Add support for XYZ` for changes to `lxd/`)

- Tests (`tests: Add test for XYZ` for changes to `tests/`)

The same kind of pattern extends to the other tools in the LXD code tree and depending on complexity, things may be split into even smaller chunks.

When updating strings in the CLI tool (`lxc/`), you may need a commit to update the templates:

    make i18n
    git commit -a -s -m "i18n: Update translation templates" po/

When updating API (`shared/api`), you may need a commit to update the swagger YAML:

    make update-api
    git commit -s -m "doc/rest-api: Refresh swagger YAML" doc/rest-api.yaml

This structure makes it easier for contributions to be reviewed and also greatly simplifies the process of back-porting fixes to stable branches.

## License and copyright

By default, any contribution to this project is made under the Apache 2.0 license.

The author of a change remains the copyright holder of their code (no copyright assignment).

## Developer Certificate of Origin

To improve tracking of contributions to this project we use the DCO 1.1 and use a “sign-off” procedure for all changes going into the branch.

The sign-off is a simple line at the end of the explanation for the commit which certifies that you wrote it or otherwise have the right to pass it on as an open-source contribution.

    Developer Certificate of Origin
    Version 1.1

    Copyright (C) 2004, 2006 The Linux Foundation and its contributors.
    660 York Street, Suite 102,
    San Francisco, CA 94110 USA

    Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this
    license document, but changing it is not allowed.

    Developer's Certificate of Origin 1.1

    By making a contribution to this project, I certify that:

    (a) The contribution was created in whole or in part by me and I
        have the right to submit it under the open source license
        indicated in the file; or

    (b) The contribution is based upon previous work that, to the best
        of my knowledge, is covered under an appropriate open source
        license and I have the right under that license to submit that
        work with modifications, whether created in whole or in part
        by me, under the same open source license (unless I am
        permitted to submit under a different license), as indicated
        in the file; or

    (c) The contribution was provided directly to me by some other
        person who certified (a), (b) or (c) and I have not modified
        it.

    (d) I understand and agree that this project and the contribution
        are public and that a record of the contribution (including all
        personal information I submit with it, including my sign-off) is
        maintained indefinitely and may be redistributed consistent with
        this project or the open source license(s) involved.

An example of a valid sign-off line is:

    Signed-off-by: Random J Developer <random@developer.org>

Use a known identity and a valid e-mail address. Sorry, no anonymous contributions are allowed.

We also require each commit be individually signed-off by their author, even when part of a larger set. You may find `git commit -s` useful.

## Code of Conduct

When contributing, you must adhere to the Code of Conduct, which is available at: `https://github.com/canonical/lxd/blob/main/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md`

## Getting Started Developing

Follow the steps below to set up your development environment to get started working on new features for LXD.

### Building Dependencies

To build the dependencies, follow the instructions in Install LXD from source.

### Adding Your Fork Remote

After building your dependencies, you can now add your GitHub fork as a remote:

    git remote add myfork git@github.com:<your_username>/lxd.git
    git remote update

Then switch to it:

    git checkout myfork/main

### Building LXD

Finally, you should be able to `make` inside the repository and build your fork of the project.

At this point, you would most likely want to create a new branch for your changes on your fork:

    git checkout -b [name_of_your_new_branch]
    git push myfork [name_of_your_new_branch]

### Important Notes for New LXD Contributors

- Persistent data is stored in the `LXD_DIR` directory which is generated by `lxd init`. The `LXD_DIR` defaults to `/var/lib/lxd` or `/var/snap/lxd/common/lxd` for snap users.

- As you develop, you may want to change the `LXD_DIR` for your fork of LXD so as to avoid version conflicts.

- Binaries compiled from your source will be generated in the `$(go env GOPATH)/bin` directory by default.

  - You will need to explicitly invoke these binaries (not the global `lxd` you may have installed) when testing your changes.

  - You may choose to create an alias in your `~/.bashrc` to call these binaries with the appropriate flags more conveniently.

- If you have a `systemd` service configured to run the LXD daemon from a previous installation of LXD, you may want to disable it to avoid version conflicts.