
#include "template.inc" name=support

<h1>Support</h1>
Please keep in mind that we are not getting paid for this.
Nevertheless, our desire is to see as many people using
<b>Bacula</b> as possible. So we are very willing to
provide a reasonable level of email support.

<p>Before asking for help, it could be useful to check against the
email archive as often solution to your problem has been discussed
or a patch has been released. Please see:
<a href="http://news.gmane.org/search.php?match=bacula">
http://news.gmane.org/search.php?match=bacula</a>.

<p>For support, send an email to
<b>bacula-users at lists.sourceforge.net</b>, and if you are
specific enough, some kind Bacula user will help you.  The
previous address was modified to prevent easy use by spammers.
To use it, you must replace the <b>at</b> with an @ symbol.  You
don't need to be subscribed to the list to send an email to it.
The users constantly monitor this list and will generally provide
support.  Please see <b>Information Needed</b> below for what to
include in your support request. If you don't supply the necessary
information, it will take longer to respond to your request, and
users may be afraid to try to respond,
if your request is too complicated and not well formulated. 

<p>I (Kern) get a number of &quot;off-list&quot; emails sent
directly to me. Please always copy the appropriate list, if you
do not copy the list, I may not answer you, or I will answer by copying
the list. If you <em>really</em> have something confidential,
please clearly indicate it.

<h2>Information Needed</h2>
For us to respond to a support request, we normally need the following
as the minimum information:
<ul>
<li>Your operating system and version.</li>
<li>The version of Bacula you are using.</li>
<li>A clear description of the problem not more than a paragraph
    or two long.</li>
<li>Output showing the exact error messages, or the commands you
    used that did not work.</li>
</ul>
The first two of these items can be fulfilled by sending
us a copy of your <b>config.out</b> file, which is in the
main <b>Bacula</b> source directory after you have done
your <b>./configure</b>.
<p>In addition, we will often need a copy of your Bacula
configuration files (especially bacula-dir.conf). If you
think it is a configuration problem, please don't hesitate
to send them preferably as an attachment.
