diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/report.py b/lib/spack/spack/report.py
index dc68b5e58325a888352428ba2ed821b03f1a4f93..fca15b126aa6fa91be51a256a0b5155d0730375a 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/report.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/report.py
@@ -254,7 +254,11 @@ class collect_info(object):
     """
     def __init__(self, format_name, install_command, cdash_upload_url):
         self.filename = None
-        self.format_name = format_name
+        if cdash_upload_url:
+            self.format_name = 'cdash'
+            self.filename = 'cdash_report'
+        else:
+            self.format_name = format_name
         # Check that the format is valid.
         if self.format_name not in valid_formats:
             raise ValueError('invalid report type: {0}'
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/reporters/cdash.py b/lib/spack/spack/reporters/cdash.py
index eeb1224fc7ab3d718705bb4c1cde43679de8ccdb..9d00e60b20ba1a1585d64c1a47c5466d02f7d402 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/reporters/cdash.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/reporters/cdash.py
@@ -58,7 +58,17 @@
 
 
 class CDash(Reporter):
-    """Generate reports of spec installations for CDash."""
+    """Generate reports of spec installations for CDash.
+
+    To use this reporter, pass the ``--cdash-upload-url`` argument to
+    ``spack install``::
+
+        spack install --cdash-upload-url=\\
+            https://mydomain.com/cdash/submit.php?project=Spack <spec>
+
+    In this example, results will be uploaded to the *Spack* project on the
+    CDash instance hosted at https://mydomain.com/cdash.
+    """
 
     def __init__(self, install_command, cdash_upload_url):
         Reporter.__init__(self, install_command, cdash_upload_url)