[[Support-GettingHelp]]
= Getting Help

If you are experiencing problems using Camel then please report your
problem to our mailing list. This allows the entire community to help
with your problem. If indeed a bug has been identified in the Camel
software, then document the problem in our
http://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/CAMEL[Issue Tracker]. Please
refrain from immediately opening a ticket in the issue tracker unless
you are certain it's a problem in the Camel software. If you are in
doubt, we appreciate asking the
xref:mailing-lists.adoc[mailing list], or
https://gitter.im/apache/apache-camel[Gitter chat] first.

[TIP]
====
Please read the section below (_How to get help_), and follow the
bullets advised there first.
====

[NOTE]
====
*Reporting bugs - Please read this first*

We prefer people to get in touch first using the
xref:mailing-lists.adoc[mailing list], or
https://gitter.im/apache/apache-camel[Gitter chat]. Or take time to read
xref:faq:index.adoc[FAQs], or search in the mailing list archives to find answers.
Unfortunately some people create a JIRA ticket as first thing. *Please
don't do that!* Only if you are sure it really is a bug, etc. JIRA tickets
create noise for the Camel team to react on issues that are not bugs
but already covered in FAQs, in the mailing lists, etc., or in the existing
documentation.
Also on the mailing lists there are more people active to help you better.
====

* http://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/CAMEL[Issue Tracker]
* xref:faq:index.adoc[FAQ]

[[Support-Alternativediscussionforums]]
== Alternative discussion forums

There are a number of sites outside Apache that offer discussion forums on
Camel. For example, http://stackoverflow.com/[Stack Overflow] is a
popular Q & A site with a
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/apache-camel[dedicated Apache
Camel forum]. You are also likely to find helpful discussions on
technical blogs, on
https://www.google.com/search?q=apache+camel[Google], or even on
https://twitter.com/search?q=apache%20camel[Twitter].

[[Support-Usingdeprecatedcomponents]]
== Using deprecated components

Deprecated components are *not* supported and issues such as bugs may
not be fixed. We encourage users to migrate away from using any
deprecated component. A list of deprecated components is on the
github page at:
https://github.com/apache/camel/tree/master/components#components

[[Support-Howtogethelp]]
== How to get help

Before you report a problem, you may wish to read the
xref:faq:index.adoc[FAQ].
When you report an issue, please be sure to include as much information
as possible. The more we know, the easier it is to reach an effective
solution quickly.

[IMPORTANT]
====
*What version do you use?*

What version of Camel do you use!?  Remember to include this information.
====

* *what are the version numbers of involved software components?* (this
is very important to detail)
* what platform and JDK?
* any particular container being used? and if so, what version?
* stack traces generally really help! (*Remember to post which version
of Camel you use, this is important to know when posting stacktraces*)
If in doubt, include the whole thing; often exceptions get wrapped in
other exceptions and the exception right near the bottom explains the
actual error, not the first few lines at the top. It's very easy for us
to skim-read past unnecessary parts of a stack trace.
* log output can be useful too; sometimes
xref:faq:how-do-i-change-the-logging.adoc[enabling DEBUG logging] can help
* your code & configuration files are often useful
* did it work before? what have you changed to break it?
* try upgrading to the latest release and see if it's fixed there
* try the latest SNAPSHOT to see if it's fixed in the pre-release
* search the user forum to see if has been discussed before
* see the "known issues" section in the release notes
* and check the http://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/CAMEL[issue
tracker] to see if the issue has already been reported
* do *not* send private emails to Camel xref:team.adoc[Team] members to
ask them to help you faster, or in the private only. Help on Apache
Camel is volunteer based and *must* happen in the *open* on the public
xref:mailing-lists.adoc[Mailing Lists]. If you want to get help faster
or in private, then see further below.

[[Support-Howtogethelpfaster]]
== How to get help faster

We can help you much quicker if you try the following:

* provide us with a JUnit test case that demonstrates your issue. e.g.
if you think you've found a bug, can you create a test case to
demonstrate the bug?
* xref:contributing.adoc[submit a patch] fixing the
bug! (We also buy you beer when we meet you if you submit bug fixes
:smile:)
* for memory leak or performance related issues, if you can run a
profiler on your test case and attach the output as a file (or zipped
file if it's huge) to the JIRA we can normally fix things much faster.
e.g. you could run
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/tooldocs/share/jmap.html[jmap] /
http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/technotes/tools/share/jhat.html[jhat],
JProfiler or YourKit on your code and send us the output. To find memory
leaks it's quicker to resolve if you can tell us what classes are taking
up all of the RAM; we can normally figure out what's wrong from that.

[[Support-CommercialSupport]]
== Commercial Support

This is an open source project, so the amount of time we have available
to help resolve your issue is often limited as all help is provided on a
volunteer basis. If you want to get priority help, need to get up to
speed quickly, require some training or mentoring, or need full 24 x 7
production support you could contact one of the following companies with
xref:commercial-camel-offerings.adoc[Commercial Camel Offerings].
