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Contributing to govmomi

tl;dr

  • Sign your commits, unless you've signed the CLA
  • Include a component prefix: in your commit message, if applicable
  • Squash fixup commits and force push to your branch

Getting started

First, fork the repository on GitHub to your personal account.

Change $USER in the examples below to your Github username if they are not the same.

git clone https://github.com/vmware/govmomi.git && cd govmomi

# prevent accidentally pushing to vmware/govmomi
git config push.default nothing
git remote rename origin vmware

# add your fork
git remote add $USER [email protected]:$USER/govmomi.git

git fetch -av

Contribution Flow

This is a rough outline of what a contributor's workflow looks like:

  • Create an issue describing the feature/fix
  • Create a topic branch from where you want to base your work.
  • Make commits of logical units.
  • Sign your commits.
  • Make sure your commit messages are in the proper format (see below).
  • Push your changes to a topic branch in your fork of the repository.
  • Submit a pull request to vmware/govmomi.

See below for details on commit best practices and supported prefixes, e.g. govc: <message>.

Note: If you are new to Git(hub) check out Git rebase, squash...oh my! for more details on how to successfully contribute to an open source project.

Sign-off Your Work

Use the Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO) on all Pull Requests. By adding this line to their commit messages, contributors sign-off that they adhere to the requirements of the DCO.

Git provides the -s command-line option to append the required line automatically to the commit message:

git commit -s -m 'This is my commit message'

For an existing commit, you can also use this option with --amend:

git commit -s --amend

Example 1 - Fix a Bug in govmomi

git checkout -b issue-<number> main
git add <files>
git commit -s -m "fix: ..." -m "Closes: #<issue-number>"
git push $USER issue-<number>

Example 2 - Add a new (non-breaking) API to govmomi

git checkout -b issue-<number> main
git add <files>
git commit -s -m "Add API ..." -m "Closes: #<issue-number>"
git push $USER issue-<number>

Example 3 - Add a Feature to govc

git checkout -b issue-<number> main
git add <files>
git commit -s -m "govc: Add feature ..." -m "Closes: #<issue-number>"
git push $USER issue-<number>

Note: To register the new govc command package, add a blank _ import to govmomi/govc/main.go.

Example 4 - Fix a Bug in vcsim

git checkout -b issue-<number> main
git add <files>
git commit -s -m "vcsim: Fix ..." -m "Closes: #<issue-number>"
git push $USER issue-<number>

Example 5 - Document Breaking (API) Changes

Breaking changes, e.g. to the govmomi APIs, are highlighted in the CHANGELOG and release notes when the keyword BREAKING: is used in the commit message body.

The text after BREAKING: is used in the corresponding highlighted section. Thus these details should be stated at the body of the commit message. Multi-line strings are supported.

git checkout -b issue-<number> main
git add <files>
cat << EOF | git commit -s -F -
Add ctx to funcXYZ

This commit introduces context.Context to function XYZ
Closes: #1234

BREAKING: Add ctx to funcXYZ()
EOF

git push $USER issue-<number>

Stay in sync with Upstream

When your branch gets out of sync with the main branch, use the following to update (rebase):

git checkout issue-<number>
git fetch -a
git rebase main
git push --force-with-lease $USER issue-<number>

Updating Pull Requests

If your PR fails to pass CI or needs changes based on code review, it's ok to add more commits stating the changes made, e.g. "Address review comments". This is to assist the reviewer(s) to easily detect and review the recent changes.

In case of small PRs, it's ok to squash and force-push (see further below) directly instead.

# incorporate review feedback
git add .

# create a fixup commit which will be merged into your (original) <commit>
git commit -s --fixup <commit>
git push $USER issue-<number>

Be sure to add a comment to the PR indicating your new changes are ready to review, as Github does not generate a notification when you git push.

Once the review is complete, squash and push your final commit(s):

# squash all commits into one
# --autosquash will automatically detect and merge fixup commits
git rebase -i --autosquash main
git push --force-with-lease $USER issue-<number>

Code Style

The coding style suggested by the Go community is used in govmomi. See the style doc for details.

Try to limit column width to 120 characters for both code and markdown documents such as this one.

Format of the Commit Message

We follow the conventions described in How to Write a Git Commit Message.

Be sure to include any related GitHub issue references in the commit message, e.g. Closes: #<number>.

The CHANGELOG.md and release page uses commit message prefixes for grouping and highlighting. A commit message that starts with [prefix:] will place this commit under the respective section in the CHANGELOG.

The following example creates a commit referencing the issue: 1234 and puts the commit message in the govc CHANGELOG section:

git commit -s -m "govc: Add CLI command X" -m "Closes: #1234"

Currently the following prefixes are used:

  • api: - Use for API-related changes
  • govc: - Use for changes to govc CLI
  • vcsim: - Use for changes to vCenter Simulator
  • chore: - Use for repository related activities
  • fix: - Use for bug fixes
  • docs: - Use for changes to the documentation
  • examples: - Use for changes to examples

If your contribution falls into multiple categories, e.g. api and vcsim it is recommended to break up your commits using distinct prefixes.

Running CI Checks and Tests

You can run both make check and make test from the top level of the repository.

While make check will catch formatting and import errors, it will not apply any fixes. The developer is expected to do that.

Reporting Bugs and Creating Issues

When opening a new issue, try to roughly follow the commit message format conventions above.