.. _hacking_collections: *************************** Contributing to collections *************************** If you want to add functionality to an existing collection, modify a collection you are using to fix a bug, or change the behavior of a module in a collection, clone the git repository for that collection and make changes on a branch. You can combine changes to a collection with a local checkout of Ansible (``source hacking/env-setup``). You should first check the collection repository to see if it has specific contribution guidelines. These are typically listed in the README.md or CONTRIBUTING.md files within the repository. Contributing to a collection: community.general =============================================== These instructions apply to collections hosted in the `ansible_collections GitHub organization `_. For other collections, especially for collections not hosted on GitHub, check the ``README.md`` of the collection for information on contributing to it. This example uses the `community.general collection `_. To contribute to other collections in the same GitHub org, replace the folder names ``community`` and ``general`` with the namespace and collection name of a different collection. Prerequisites ------------- * Include ``~/dev/ansible/collections/`` in :ref:`COLLECTIONS_PATHS` * If that path mentions multiple directories, make sure that no other directory earlier in the search path contains a copy of ``community.general``. Creating a PR ------------- * Create the directory ``~/dev/ansible/collections/ansible_collections/community``: .. code-block:: shell mkdir -p ~/dev/ansible/collections/ansible_collections/community * Clone `the community.general Git repository `_ or a fork of it into the directory ``general``: .. code-block:: shell cd ~/dev/ansible/collections/ansible_collections/community git clone git@github.com:ansible-collections/community.general.git general * If you clone from a fork, add the original repository as a remote ``upstream``: .. code-block:: shell cd ~/dev/ansible/collections/ansible_collections/community/general git remote add upstream git@github.com:ansible-collections/community.general.git * Create a branch and commit your changes on the branch. * Remember to add tests for your changes, see :ref:`testing_collections`. * Push your changes to your fork of the collection and create a Pull Request. You can test your changes by using this checkout of ``community.general`` in playbooks and roles with whichever version of Ansible you have installed locally, including a local checkout of ``ansible/ansible``'s ``devel`` branch. .. seealso:: :ref:`collections` Learn how to install and use collections. :ref:`contributing_maintained_collections` Guidelines for contributing to selected collections `Mailing List `_ The development mailing list :ref:`communication_irc` How to join Ansible chat channels