Regardless of what you want to ask or report, first look at the existing GitHub Discussions and Issues.
If someone else has reported it, add to their post; do not create a new one.

A problem is something that isn't working correctly and likely is caused by the Allsky Software.
Misconfigured settings and other user errors are not problems since the Allsky Software won't need to change.

A bug is something that isn't working correctly and you are pretty sure it's caused by the Allsky Software.

## Reporting something that isn't a problem or bug

If you have a new item and it's:

- a QUESTION, create a GitHub Q&A Discussion .
- a request for a NEW FEATURE, create a GitHub feature request .
- anything else that's not a problem or bug, create a GitHub Discussion .

## Reporting problems and bugs

#### The automated method

> This is the preferred method to report problems and should be used if your WebUI is working.

Follow the instructions on the WebUI's Getting Support page.

#### The manual method

> Only use this method if you are unable to use the automated method above, for example, if Allsky didn't install or the WebUI isn't working.

If you can easily reproduce the problem, even if it means waiting until tomorrow for it to occur again, do the following:

1. Run the following command to make sure Allsky will produce the necessary information to help the Allsky Team troubleshoot your problem:

       allsky-config   prepare_logs

   If the command changed the Debug Level you are told what its prior value was so you can restore it when troubleshooting is over.
2. Wait until the problem occurs, then follow the steps below.

Either way:

1. Run the following to create a support log file in ~/allsky/html/support:

       cd ~/allsky; ./support.sh

2. Create a new Problem Discussion in GitHub and attach the support log file to it.
3. Attach screenshots of any error messages or copy/paste their text and surround them with three tildas in the Discussion, for example:

       ~~~
       ERROR: error message line 1
         error message line 2, ...
       ~~~

   This makes the message format properly.
4. If there are any other files you think would be helpful, attach those as well (do not copy/paste their text).

   > GitHub only accepts certain file types. See this URL for a list of supported types. If your file has an unsupported extension, append a .txt to its name, e.g., settings.json.txt.

## Errors when using the support system

The support system may display various error messages. The following section details those errors and how to fix them

Error Message
Description
Error downloading file
Error updating the GitHub issue file
Error deleting the support log
Error unable to create the support directory
All of these errors indicate an issue with the ~/allsky/html/support directory, Please check that;

1. The ~/allsky/html/support directory exists. To check if the directory exists enter the following
   `cd ~/html/support`
2. The directory has the correct permissions. You will need to know the user Allsky is running under, this will most likely be pi or the user you log in as. To check the permissions enter
   `ls -al ~/allsky/html/support`
   If this command fails then run the support script manually
   `~/allsky/support.sh`
   At the first prompt select no and then return to the webui and try the support system again
   If this command succeeds then you have two options
   1. Delete all logs (easiest). If you have any existing logs they will be lost.

      > Warning: Any existing support logs will be removed.

      `sudo rm -rf ~/allsky/support`
      `~/allsky/support.sh`
      Select no at the first prompt then return to the webui and try the support system again
   2. Preserve logs (Advanced). This requires you knwo the user Allsky is running under
   So for example if you are running using the 'pi' user then enter the following

   > Substitue pi with whichever user you are running Allsky as in the following command

   `sudo chown pi:www-data ~/allsky/html/support`
   `sudo chmod -r 755 ~/allsky/html/support`
   `sudo find ~/allsky/html/support -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;`

Error updating determining the support log
Please create a Discussion on Github

> If having tried the suggestions above the problem persists then please create a Discussion on Github