This guide will explain how to post a proper support request which will help get your issue resolved as soon as possible.
The Stock Support & Bugs forum is a place where users can help one another solve problems they are having with unmodified KSP. To do that effectively, it's far easier if you start out your help request by posting a new thread with the most information possible about your issue, your KSP installation, and the system you're running the game on. Making an effort to title your thread descriptively and provide as much of the information below as you can will help the community assist you better.
If you think you have found and can replicate a bug in Stock KSP, please raise a bug report on the public bug tracker located here.
Which information should your support request have?
KSP version including Windows, Mac, or Linux, 32 or 64-bit, and if it's Steam
A detailed explanation of what happened and what you were trying to accomplish
A screenshot of your craft or any relevant screens
A .craft file or save files if relevant
The ouput_log.txt or player.log file KSP creates when it launches and, if applicable, the crash log KSP has generated when the program crashed
A detailed list of system specifications
Are you running a clean installation, or have you updated and some of your persistence or craft files might be older versions, if so which version(s)
All files (logs, screenshots, saves and ship files) submitted for support requests must be uploaded to a file-sharing service and linked to in your support request.
To find out how to obtain this information, please see below.
To obtain your version, use any of the following:
Open the "buildID.txt" file located in your installation folder. The version is listed in the first line of the file.
Open the "readme.txt" file located in your installation folder. The version is listed just below the ASCII art in the top of the file.
Start KSP and look in the lower right corner of the main menu screen.
The KSP version will look something like "01258" or "1.1.2". Also list whether you're using Windows, Mac, or Linux, if it's 32 or 64-bit, and if it's Steam. Knowing the version allows us to avoid recommending things that are not applicable to your operating system. Also, there are some issues which only turn up in specific operating systems or specific versions of KSP.
KSP is capable of taking screenshots in-game by pressing F1. The screenshots are stored in the KSP installation folder under a folder called [SCREENSHOTS].
You can upload screenshots to any image sharing site (such as imgur.com) and post the link with your support request. (Note: imgur is free and does not require you to create an account.)
Screenshots usually illustrate the problem better than trying to explain with several paragraphs. Feel free to mark up your screenshots with a noticeable colour to highlight important points. Also, avoid excessive drawing since it may end up making your problem less clear.
In the KSP installation folder, you should be able to find a folder called [SAVES]. Open this folder and select the save file name that applies. Inside you will find three things: one or more files (usually two) with a .sfs extension and a folder called [SHIPS].
Craft Files: Any ships that you created will be stored in the [SHIPS] directory under [SPH] for Space Plane Hangar vehicles or [VAB] for Vehicle Assembly Building vehicles. Craft files are named the same as what you titled your ship in KSP and have a .craft extension.
Save Files: To attach a save file, you need the file called persistent.sfs (or quicksave.sfs if you wish to share a quicksave).
CRAFT NOTE: When posting in the Stock Support forum, ensure that no mods are used in the creation of the craft.
SAVE NOTE: Using ALT+F5 to quicksave will allow you to give the save file a specific name, which can make it easier to find for uploading.
You can upload these files to any file sharing site (such as Dropbox, Pastebin or File2web). These sites will give you a link you can include in your posts to share your files.
Craft files should be provided whenever you are having an issue with a specific craft, or have found a potential bug that you find easiest to reproduce with that specific craft. Having the craft file to work with will make it much quicker and simpler for us to diagnose and attempt to replicate the issue, and hopefully get it resolved much quicker.
When KSP crashes it will general a folder with files with details surrounding the crash. Usually a window will pop up ingame asking you to send this information to the developers, along with the name of the folder. You can find this folder in the KSP install directory.
If KSP doesn't crash, start KSP and cause the problem. Quit KSP and find the output_log.txt (not the KSP.log) at the location below:
KSP versions 1.3.1 and below:
Windows: KSP_win\KSP_Data\output_log.txt -OR- KSP_win64\KSP_x64_DATA\output_log.txt (depending on which used)
- In case you installed KSP into a Windows protected directory (C:\Users, C:\Program Files or C:\Windows\ and their subfolders) the output log file may be stored in the folder called C:\Users\[username]\Appdata, this folder is usually hidden so you should enable the view hidden folders option (more information). Note that for the demo you should find the output_log.txt file located in the KSP_Data folder.
- Steam users should right click KSP in Steam, click on Properties, then in the Properties box, click Local Files, then Browse Local Files.
Mac OSX: Open Console, on the left side of the window there is a menu that says 'files'. Scroll down the list and find the Unity drop down, under Unity there will be Player.log Aka Files>~/Library/Logs/Unity/Player.log
Linux: The log is written to /home/user/.config/unity3d/Squad/Kerbal Space Program/Player.log
KSP versions 1.4.0 and above:
Windows: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\LocalLow\Squad\Kerbal Space Program\output_log.txt
- This folder is usually hidden so you should enable the view hidden folders option (more information).
Mac OSX: Open Console, on the left side of the window there is a menu that says 'files'. Scroll down the list and find the Unity drop down, under Unity there will be Player.log Aka Files>~/Library/Logs/Unity/Player.log
Linux: The log is written to ~/.config/unity3d/Squad/Kerbal Space Program/Player.log
You can upload these files to any file sharing site (such as Dropbox, Pastebin or File2web). These sites will give you a link you can include in your posts to share your files.
The output and crash logs are useful because they help us understand exactly what you were doing when the issue happened by providing a "play-by-play reenactment" (in text form) of your KSP session. Anything out of the ordinary will often show up in the log files, and it gives us a good idea of where to start looking for solutions.
The method to gathering system specifications will vary over different operating systems, choose which one applies to you.
Windows: open the start menu and select (or type) 'run'. Type in 'dxdiag' and press the [ok] button. A new program will pop up called the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. On the bottom of this screen a [save All Information] button is located. Press it and save the text file to a location you will remember.
Mac OSX: use the "System Report" app from the 'About This Mac' menu and hit cmd+s to save the file in .rtf format in a location you will remember.
Linux: for linux an application called 'hardinfo' will gather all required information. Save the information to a location you will remember.
You can upload these files to any file sharing site (such as Dropbox, Pastebin or File2web). These sites will give you a link you can include in your posts to share your files.
Having detailed system specifications is useful in more ways than one. At a glance, we can tell if your system should be experiencing any performance issues, and whether the system is correctly registering and utilizing an installed video card, sound card, and so forth. All the hardware information for your system is contained within these files (and is extensive). As such, it's a must-have for those of us trying to diagnose and solve certain issues.
For help with modded versions of KSP, please check the Modded Support Forum
Modded Support Forum
Need Help Downloading KSP? Click here!
This guide will explain how to post a proper support request which will help get your issue resolved as soon as possible.
The Stock Support & Bugs forum is a place where users can help one another solve problems they are having with unmodified KSP. To do that effectively, it's far easier if you start out your help request by posting a new thread with the most information possible about your issue, your KSP installation, and the system you're running the game on. Making an effort to title your thread descriptively and provide as much of the information below as you can will help the community assist you better.
If you think you have found and can replicate a bug in Stock KSP, please raise a bug report on the public bug tracker located here.
Which information should your support request have?
All files (logs, screenshots, saves and ship files) submitted for support requests must be uploaded to a file-sharing service and linked to in your support request.
To find out how to obtain this information, please see below.
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