Fresh Bugzilla Interview Questions & Answers:

1. Can users be on the system while a backup is in progress?

Yes. However, commits to the database must wait until the tables are unlocked. Bugzilla databases are typically very small, and backups routinely take less than a minute.

2. Does Bugzilla provide any reporting features, metrics, graphs, etc?

Yes. Look at http://link.GlobalGuideline.com for basic reporting facilities.
For more advanced reporting, I recommend hooking up a professional reporting package, such as Crystal Reports, and use ODBC to access the MySQL database. You can do a lot through the Query page of Bugzilla as well, but right now Advanced Reporting is much better accomplished through third-party utilities that can interface with the database directly.
Advanced Reporting is a Bugzilla 3.X proposed feature.

3. Is there email notification and if so, what do you see when you get an email? Do you see bug number and title or is it only the number?

Email notification is user-configurable. The bug id and Topic of the bug report accompany each email notification, along with a list of the changes made.

4. If I just wanted to track certain bugs, as they go through life, can I set it up to alert me via email whenever that bug changes, whether it be owner, status or description etc.?

Yes. Place yourself in the "cc" field of the bug you wish to monitor. Then change your "Notify me of changes to" field in the Email Settings tab of the User Preferences screen in Bugzilla to the "Only those bugs which I am listed on the CC line" option.

5. Has anyone converted Bugzilla to another language to be used in other countries? Is it localizable?

Currently, no.

6. Can a user re-run a report with a new project, same query?

Yes.

7. Does Bugzilla have the ability to search by word, phrase, compound search?

You have no idea. Bugzilla's query interface, particularly with the advanced Boolean operators, is incredibly versatile.

8. Does Bugzilla provide record locking when there is simultaneous access to the same bug? Does the second person get a notice that the bug is in use or how are they notified?

Bugzilla does not lock records. It provides mid-air collision detection, and offers the offending user a choice of options to deal with the conflict.

9. I do not like/want to use Procmail to hand mail off to bug_email.pl. What alternatives do I have?

You can call bug_email.pl directly from your aliases file, with an entry like this: bugzilla-daemon: "|/usr/local/bin/bugzilla/contrib/bug_email.pl"

10. I try to add myself as a user, but Bugzilla always tells me my password is wrong.

Certain version of MySQL (notably, 3.23.29 and 3.23.30) accidentally disabled the "crypt()" function. This prevented MySQL from storing encrypted passwords. Upgrade to the "3.23 stable" version of MySQL and you should be good to go.