= Trac FAQ

Here you can find answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about Trac. 

If you have a question not answered on this page, you can ask it on the MailingList or in the IrcChannel. See the TracSupport page for more options on getting support for Trac.

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**Note:** At the occasion of the upcoming 1.0 release, we're restarting the FAQ from scratch. If you don't find the answer you're looking for here, **also have a look in the old [wiki:"0.12/TracFaq"]** (for Trac 0.12 and older versions).

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== Installation troubleshooting

=== Installation from source

==== Q: Why do I get `NameError: global name 'log' is not defined` when trying to use `setup.py`?

{{{
../trunk/$ python setup.py egg_info
running egg_info
...
  File "build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/setuptools/svn_util.py", line 55, in get_sections
NameError: global name 'log' is not defined
}}}

**A:** You're most likely working from a Subversion **1.7** checkout and you're using a too old `setuptools` package (e.g. `/setuptools-0.7a1dev_r66608`).

See #7598. Upgrade to a newer setuptools, downgrade to svn 1.6.x,   or use distribute.

==== Q: Why does installing `distribute` fail with `ValueError: A 0.7-series setuptools cannot be installed with distribute.`?

You tried to install `distribute` as advised elsewhere:
{{{
$ curl http://python-distribute.org/distribute_setup.py | python
}}}
but you're greeted with:
{{{
ValueError: A 0.7-series setuptools cannot be installed with distribute. Found one at /packages/trac/virtualenv-0.13/lib/python2.7/site-packages/setuptools-0.7a1dev_r66608-py2.7.egg
}}}

**A:** Don't give up, it's just `setuptools` giving you a last fight.

You can remove the offending setuptools .egg ... and if it keeps re-appearing, you have it installed not only in the virtualenv but also in the parent Python installation (the one in which you installed virtualenv itself). If this is the case, remove it from there as well, installing distribute should now work.

==== Q: Why does Apache crash (500) with a `ZipImportError` in the error log?

{{{
[Tue Aug 07 09:08:26 2012] [error] [client 172.25.16.59] mod_wsgi (pid=16444): Exception occurred processing WSGI script '/packages/trac/virtualenv-0.13/bin/trac.wsgi'., referer: http://dserver/trac/bct/timeline
...
[Tue Aug 07 09:08:26 2012] [error] [client 172.25.16.59]   File "build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/pkg_resources.py", line 1197, in _get, referer: xxx/trac/bct/timeline
[Tue Aug 07 09:08:26 2012] [error] [client 172.25.16.59] ZipImportError: bad local file header in /packages/trac/virtualenv-0.13/lib/python2.7/site-packages/Genshi-0.6-py2.7.egg, referer: xxx/trac/bct/timeline
}}}

**A:** You most certainly forgot to stop and restart your server during an upgrade. The zip importer  mechanism keeps an internal cache which has trouble detecting replaced files, so a restart is needed (see TracUpgrade#ZipImportError). Do it now.

=== Upgrade troubleshooting

==== Q: Trac /about says 1.0, but the style looks pre-1.0

**A:** You probably just need to convince your browser that the CSS files have changed. Try "force reload" (`CTRL+R` or `CTRL+Shift+R`, depending on your browser). This is a common issue (see e.g. #10797).

If that still doesn't work, look in your server configuration to see where the chrome files are supposed to be served from (`Alias` or `AliasMatch` directive), and maybe you'll see that you're serving them as static files from a different location:
{{{
Alias /trac/bct/chrome /packages/trac/virtualenv-0.13/share/htdocs
}}}
In this case, don't forget to:
{{{
$ trac-admin <yourenv> deploy /packages/trac/virtualenv-0.13/share
}}}
See TracUpgrade#a5.Refreshstaticresources.


==== Q: Attachments are missing after upgrade

**A:** Most likely db28.py failed. See #11370. Please report any additional information on the MailingList.

You can try to create a `rundb28.py` script:
{{{#!python
#!/usr/bin/python
from __future__ import with_statement
import sys
from trac.env import open_environment
from trac.upgrades.db28 import do_upgrade

env = open_environment(sys.argv[1])
print 'Fixing attachments for environment', env.project_name, 'at', sys.argv[1]
with env.db_transaction as db:
        cursor = db.cursor()
        do_upgrade(env, None, cursor)
        db.commit()
}}}

And then apply it to the broken environment:
{{{
> python rundb28.py /path/to/broken/environment
}}}

== Trac development

=== Q: How to extend Trac?

**A:** The primary way to extend Trac is to write [TracPlugins plugins] in Python. Look for the extensive documentation below TracDev/, maybe starting with the [TracDev#Overviews overview] pages.

The community site [TracHacks:WikiStart trac-hacks.org] is a great place for finding plugins, it also contains a few [TracHacks:wiki:tutorial tutorials] to get you started.
 

=== Q: How to contribute to Trac?

**A:** There are many ways to contribute back, see HowToContribute for details (you should have guessed ;-) ).

Also have a look at the documentation below TracDev/, in particular the pages below the [TracDev#Contributing Contributing] section.