Error message "Don't manually register a bzr branch on bazaar.launchpad.net. Create it by SFTP, and it is registered automatically"

Does 'bzr help register-branch' answer your question ?

Basically, registering a branch on launchpad without uploading the corresponding files is incomplete, so the workflow is to use bzr to upload your files and that triggered the branch registration based on your upload url.

The problem is that you can't create a bzr branch by the webform. I think the user should be taken step by step through branch creation because I think this behaviour is more than confusing for users not experienced with bazaar (and that's problably 95% of all users).

Do you want to:

- ask launchpad to mirror an existing branch ?

or

- ask launchpad to host a new branch you want to upload ?

If you don't want to create the branch with 'bzr register-branch' but instead use only launchpad then you need a public branch that launchpad can mirror (i.e. accessible somewhere on internet).

About the step by step in launchpad, I'm afraid you have to open another ticket on launchpad itself, not bazaar.

It seems you find a solution to register your branch, do you consider that this ticket can be closed ?

I'm not the original poster but I do think the error message, and the launchpad documentation is a bit confusing. I'm not sure if this is a problem with launchpad or a problem with bazaar, however.

The three ways of trying to register a branch are:

 - Register a branch on Launchpad's web interface.
   There should probably be a statement at the top pointing you to a FAQ or Wiki page on this.

 - bzr register-branch
   The help here says,
   "
   Register a branch with launchpad.net.

   This command lists a bzr branch in the directory of branches on
   launchpad.net. Registration allows the bug to be associated with
   bugs or specifications.

   Before using this command you must register the product to which the
   branch belongs, and create an account for yourself on launchpad.net.
   "
   There should probably be something clearly stating that the branch has to be visible before you submit it in the instructions, rather than when you start reading the arguments. And maybe a pointer to the correct command to use if it's not.

 - bzr push
   The help here is all about updating, rather than creating. It's implicit in the existance of the --create-prefix argument that there's a creation aspect as well, but it should be spelled out in the introductory text. Maybe change the first line to "Update or create (with --create-prefix) a mirror of this branch."

Just some thoughts.