Bugzilla Technology Intelligence

What is Bugzilla?

Bugzilla is a free, open-source bug tracking system originally developed by Mozilla. It's one of the most established and widely-used defect tracking systems in the software industry, powering bug tracking for major organizations including Mozilla, Apache, Red Hat, NASA, and the Linux kernel project.

Created in 1998 by Terry Weissman for the Netscape Communications Corporation, Bugzilla was released as open source when Netscape created the Mozilla project. Written in Perl with a MySQL or PostgreSQL backend, Bugzilla set the standard for enterprise bug tracking with features like advanced querying, email notifications, and granular permissions that influenced countless subsequent issue trackers.

Core Features

Advanced Bug Management

• Detailed Bug Records: Comprehensive fields for component, version, severity, priority, status, and resolution
• Custom Fields: Add organization-specific attributes and workflows
• Attachments: Upload patches, screenshots, logs, and test cases
• Bug Dependencies: Track blockers, dependencies, and duplicate relationships
• Flags: Request and track reviews, approvals, and other signoffs
• Keywords: Tag bugs for categorization and filtering

Powerful Search

Boolean search with AND/OR/NOT operators across any field combination. Saved searches can be shared across teams. Quick search supports bug IDs, keywords, and common queries.

Email Integration

Highly configurable email notifications based on field changes, component assignments, and CC lists. Bug updates can be submitted via email, enabling workflow without web access.

Security

• Fine-grained group-based permissions
• Security-sensitive bugs hidden from public view
• Audit trail of all changes

Time Tracking

Built-in work time logging and estimation. Reports show actual versus estimated hours across projects and assignees.

Use Cases

Open Source Projects

Large open-source projects use Bugzilla for public bug tracking with thousands of contributors. Mozilla's Bugzilla instance tracks Firefox, Thunderbird, and related projects with hundreds of thousands of bugs. The robust permission system manages access across diverse contributor groups.

Enterprise Software Development

Organizations with complex products and multiple teams benefit from Bugzilla's component hierarchy, milestone tracking, and cross-team workflows. The flag system manages code review and approval processes across distributed teams.

Security Response

Security teams track vulnerabilities using restricted bug groups. Only authorized personnel see security-sensitive issues until patches are ready, while public bugs remain accessible to the community.

QA Departments

Quality assurance teams use Bugzilla's structured workflows to manage testing cycles. Status values track bugs through triage, assignment, development, verification, and closure with full audit trails.

Embedded and Hardware Development

Companies building hardware and firmware use Bugzilla to track issues across hardware revisions, firmware versions, and software releases with precise version tracking.

Installation and API Usage

Installation (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Install dependencies
apt-get install apache2 mysql-server libapache2-mod-perl2 \
    libdbd-mysql-perl libcgi-pm-perl libdatetime-perl \
    libdatetime-timezone-perl libtemplate-perl \
    libemail-sender-perl libemail-mime-perl

# Download and extract Bugzilla
cd /var/www
wget https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/webtools/bugzilla-5.0.6.tar.gz
tar -xzf bugzilla-5.0.6.tar.gz
mv bugzilla-5.0.6 bugzilla

# Check dependencies and configure
cd bugzilla
./checksetup.pl

REST API - Search Bugs

# Search for open bugs assigned to user
curl -X GET "https://bugzilla.example.org/rest/bug" \
    -d "[email protected]" \
    -d "status=NEW,ASSIGNED" \
    -d "api_key=YOUR_API_KEY"

REST API - Create Bug (PHP)

$bugData = [
    'product' => 'MyProduct',
    'component' => 'Frontend',
    'version' => '1.0',
    'summary' => 'Login button not responding',
    'description' => 'Steps to reproduce: 1. Go to login page...',
    'severity' => 'normal',
    'priority' => 'P2',
    'api_key' => 'YOUR_API_KEY'
];

$ch = curl_init('https://bugzilla.example.org/rest/bug');
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_POST => true,
    CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode($bugData),
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => ['Content-Type: application/json'],
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true
]);
$response = json_decode(curl_exec($ch), true);
echo "Created bug: " . $response['id'];

Email Integration Configuration

# localconfig settings
$webservergroup = 'www-data';
$db_driver = 'mysql';
$db_host = 'localhost';
$db_name = 'bugzilla';
$db_user = 'bugzilla';
$db_pass = 'secure_password';

Benefits and Considerations

Key Strengths

• Battle-Tested: 25+ years of production use at massive scale
• Powerful Search: Unmatched query capabilities for complex bug databases
• Email Integration: Full workflow possible via email clients
• Security Model: Granular permissions proven in security-sensitive environments
• Free and Open: No licensing costs with MPL 2.0 license
• Extensible: Custom fields, hooks, and extension system

Considerations

• Learning Curve: Extensive features require training to use effectively
• Dated Interface: UI reflects early 2000s web design conventions
• Perl Dependency: Requires Perl expertise for customization and maintenance
• No Agile Features: Designed for waterfall; lacks sprint and Kanban views
• Setup Complexity: Installation requires significant configuration

When to Choose Bugzilla

Bugzilla excels for large projects with complex hierarchies, extensive public participation, and strict security requirements. Organizations already invested in Bugzilla benefit from its maturity and stability.

Alternatives

Teams seeking modern interfaces might prefer Jira, GitHub Issues, or GitLab. For open-source projects wanting simplicity, Redmine or Mantis offer friendlier interfaces. However, none match Bugzilla's query power for massive bug databases.