[DRE-maint] Bug#1144066: redmine: please make the build reproducible

[Chris Lamb]

Source: redmine
Version: 6.1.3+ds-1
Severity: wishlist
Tags: patch
User: reproducible-builds at lists.alioth.debian.org
Usertags: nocheck
X-Debbugs-Cc: reproducible-bugs at lists.alioth.debian.org

Hi,

Whilst working on the Reproducible Builds effort [0], we noticed that
redmine could not be built reproducibly.

This is because the testsuite bumps the modification time of the
db/ directory to the current time (which later gets clamped
back to SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH), so if the tests are skipped via nocheck,
then this directory will retain its original, upstream timestamp.

Patch attached that ensures this directory always has the same
timestamp, regardless of whether the tests are run or not.

 [0] https://reproducible-builds.org/


Regards,

-- 
      ,''`.
     : :'  :     Chris Lamb
     `. `'`      lamby at debian.org / chris-lamb.co.uk
       `-
-------------- next part --------------
--- a/debian/rules	2026-08-10 14:58:49.087486125 +0000
--- b/debian/rules	2026-08-10 15:08:23.407676655 +0000
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@
 	rm db/schema.rb
 endif
 
+execute_before_dh_install:
+	# Running the testsuite adjusts the mtimes of db/, so force it to a
+	# fixed time for reproducibility
+	touch -d@$(SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH) db/
+
 execute_after_dh_install:
 	# Clean up the "extra" license files with typos :)  TODO, test to see if it is still needed.
 	find debian/redmine/usr/share/redmine -name "*LICEN*E*" -exec rm -f '{}' \;