GoogleContainerTools/jib · error · GradleException

container.creationTime should be an ISO 8601 date-time (see

Error message

container.creationTime should be an ISO 8601 date-time (see DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME) or a special keyword ("EPOCH", "USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP"): ${ex.getInvalidCreationTime()}

What it means

container.creationTime sets the image creation timestamp and must be an ISO 8601 date-time (DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME) or one of the special keywords EPOCH or USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP. InvalidCreationTimeException is thrown for other values, and the Gradle task surfaces it as this GradleException including the invalid value from ex.getInvalidCreationTime().

Source

Thrown at jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/BuildImageTask.java:157

          "from.platforms contains a platform configuration that is missing required values or has invalid values: "
              + ex.getMessage()
              + ": "
              + ex.getInvalidPlatform(),
          ex);

    } catch (InvalidContainerVolumeException ex) {
      throw new GradleException(
          "container.volumes is not an absolute Unix-style path: " + ex.getInvalidVolume(), ex);

    } catch (InvalidFilesModificationTimeException ex) {
      throw new GradleException(
          "container.filesModificationTime should be an ISO 8601 date-time (see "
              + "DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME) or special keyword \"EPOCH_PLUS_SECOND\": "
              + ex.getInvalidFilesModificationTime(),
          ex);

    } catch (InvalidCreationTimeException ex) {
      throw new GradleException(
          "container.creationTime should be an ISO 8601 date-time (see "
              + "DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME) or a special keyword (\"EPOCH\", "
              + "\"USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP\"): "
              + ex.getInvalidCreationTime(),
          ex);

    } catch (JibPluginExtensionException ex) {
      String extensionName = ex.getExtensionClass().getName();
      throw new GradleException(
          "error running extension '" + extensionName + "': " + ex.getMessage(), ex);

    } catch (IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException ex) {
      throw new GradleException(
          HelpfulSuggestions.forIncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionForGradle(
              ex.getBaseImageMajorJavaVersion(), ex.getProjectMajorJavaVersion()),
          ex);

    } catch (InvalidImageReferenceException ex) {

View on GitHub (pinned to fb949e2676)

Solutions

Use the keyword USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP to stamp builds with the current time.
Use EPOCH for a deterministic timestamp (good for reproducible builds).
Provide a full ISO 8601 date-time like '2024-01-01T00:00:00Z'.
Remove the property to use the default (EPOCH).

Example fix

// before
jib {
  container { creationTime = 'now' }
}
// after
jib {
  container { creationTime = 'USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP' }
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

def ct = jib.container.creationTime
if (ct != null && !(ct in ['EPOCH', 'USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP'])) {
  try { java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME.parse(ct) }
  catch (Exception e) { throw new GradleException("creationTime invalid: $ct") }
}

Try / catch

try {
  tasks.named('jib').get().execute()
} catch (GradleException e) {
  if (e.message?.startsWith('container.creationTime should be')) {
    logger.error("Use ISO 8601, EPOCH, or USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP: ${e.message}")
  }
  throw e
}

Prevention

Use EPOCH or USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP keywords instead of hand-written dates.
Validate ISO 8601 format before assigning creationTime.
Note 'now' is NOT a valid keyword; use USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP.

When it happens

Trigger: Setting jib.container.creationTime to a malformed date-time or an unrecognized keyword (e.g. 'now', 'today', '2024/01/01') and running a jib build task.

Common situations: Assuming 'now' is a supported keyword (only USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP is); slashes instead of ISO 'T' separators; missing timezone offsets; config generated by scripts with locale date formatting.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/jib@fb949e2676 (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/31dcc3f4ef72d616. Report an issue: GitHub.