redmine-plugin-recurring-tasks

Plugin for Redmine project management software to configure recurring tasks. The plugin creates a new issue in Redmine for each recurrence, linking the duplicated issue as a related issue.

Released under GPLv2 in accordance with Redmine licensing.

Please note that this plugin is no longer actively advanced (questions and true bug reports are still addressed). The repo is still monitored, and questions will be answered, but new functionality is not planned at this time. Pull requests are still accepted though, so if you want to contribute -- please do!

Features

• Any Redmine issue can have one or more associated recurrence schedules.
• Supported recurrence schedules are:
  • Every x days/weeks/months/years, e.g. every 1 day or every 3 months
  • The nth day of every x months, e.g. the 3rd of every month
  • The nth-to-last day of every x months, e.g. the 5th-to-last day of every 4 months
  • The nth week day of every x months, e.g. the 3rd Thursday of every 2 months
  • The nth-to-last week day of every x months, e.g. the 2nd-to-last Saturday of every 1 month
• All recurrence schedules can be set to recur on a fixed or flexible schedule.
  • Fixed: recurs whether the previous task completed or not
  • Flexible: recurs only if the previous task was complete
• View/Add/Edit/Delete issue recurrence permissions controlled via Redmine's native Roles and Permissions menu

Note: recurrences depend on the date of the issue that is recurring (e.g. if you want it to recur every 2nd Thursday of the month, the issue's first date should be a Thursday)

Installation

Follow standard Redmine plugin installation -- (barely) modified from http://www.redmine.org/projects/redmine/wiki/Plugins

1. Copy or clone the plugin directory into #{RAILS_ROOT}/plugins/recurring_tasks -- note the folder name 'recurring_tasks' must be verbatim.

   e.g. git clone https://github.com/nutso/redmine-plugin-recurring-tasks.git recurring_tasks

   NOTE! This particular clone will tie you to the master branch, which is not recommended for production systems (faster updates and features but less well-tested). Recommend using a specific version of the plugin which will provide a more stable baseline.

2. Rake the database migration (make a db backup before)

   e.g. bundle exec rake redmine:plugins:migrate RAILS_ENV=production

3. Restart Redmine (or web server)

You should now be able to see the plugin list in Administration -> Plugins.

Configuration

1. Set the check for recurrence via Crontab or similar.

   "Pure" crontab example (running the check for recurrence every 6 hours on the 15s) -- replace {path_to_redmine} with your actual path, e.g. /var/www/redmine:

   15 */4 * * * /bin/sh "cd {path_to_redmine} && bundle exec rake RAILS_ENV=production redmine:recur_tasks" >> log/cron_rake.log 2>&1

   You can also use e.g. cron.daily or cron.hourly to avoid having to figure out the precise cron syntax for the schedule; Ruby gems Rufus Scheduler and Whenever can also be used; the key point is that something needs to call recur_tasks on a regular basis.

   More information on Rufus Scheduler config at #72

2. Decide which role(s) should have the ability to view/add/edit/delete issue recurrence and configure accordingly in Redmine's permission manager (Administration > Roles and Permissions)

   • View issue recurrence
   • Add issue recurrence
   • Edit issue recurrence
   • Delete issue recurrence (additionally requires the user to be a project member or administrator)

3. Within the Administration/Plugins/Recurring Tasks configuration page in Redmine, you have the following global configuration options:

   • Attribute issue journals to user id (optional)
     If blank, no journal notes will be added on recurrence; otherwise, this should be the numeric Redmine user id to which all recurring journal entries will be tied to. This can be helpful if you want to create a placeholder user account and see all recurrence history within Redmine.
   • Display top menu?
     Defaults to yes for historical purposes; whether (for Redmine administrators) and Recurring tasks menu option should be displayed on the top menu.
   • Reopen issue on recurrence?
     Defaults to no for historical purposes; whether to re-open an issue (yes) or clone to a new issue (no) when the issue is due to recur

Upgrade or Migrate Plugin

Please check the Release Notes (ReleaseNotes.md) for substantive or breaking changes.

Option 1: Git Pull

1. If you installed via git clone, you can just change to the recurring_tasks directory and do a git pull to get the update

2. Run database migrations (make a db backup before)

   bundle exec rake redmine:plugins:migrate RAILS_ENV=production

3. Restart Redmine (or web server)

Option 2: Remove and Re-install Plugin

1. Follow Remove or Uninstall Plugin instructions below
2. Follow Installation instructions above

Remove or Uninstall Plugin

Follow standard Redmine plugin un-installation -- (barely) modified from http://www.redmine.org/projects/redmine/wiki/Plugins

1. Downgrade the database (make a db backup before)

   bundle exec rake redmine:plugins:migrate NAME=recurring_tasks VERSION=0 RAILS_ENV=production

2. Remove the plugin from the plugins folder (#{RAILS_ROOT}/plugins)

3. Restart Redmine (or web server)

Running the tests

1. Copy Redmine to redmine/:
   • curl -O http://www.redmine.org/releases/redmine-3.1.1.tar.gz
   • tar -xf redmine-3.1.1.tar.gz
   • rm redmine-3.1.1.tar.gz
   • mv redmine-3.1.1 redmine
2. Symlink the plugin into the plugins folder:
   • ln -s ../.. redmine/plugins/recurring_tasks
3. Setup a default database
   • ln -s ../../test/database.yml redmine/config/database.yml
   • cd redmine
   • rake db:create
   • rake db:migrate RAILS_ENV=test
4. Install required gems by Redmine
   • bundle
5. Go back to the plugin folder
   • cd ..
6. And run the tests
   • rake