{"record":{"id":"f8369a743d0be715","repo":"GoogleContainerTools/jib","slug":"container-creationtime-should-be-an-iso-8601-date","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"container.creationTime should be an ISO 8601 date-time (see DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME) or a special keyword (\"EPOCH\", \"USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP\"): ${invalidCreationTime}","messagePattern":"container\\.creationTime should be an ISO 8601 date-time \\(see DateTimeFormatter\\.ISO_DATE_TIME\\) or a special keyword \\(\"EPOCH\", \"USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP\"\\): (.+?)","errorType":"validation","errorClass":"GradleException","httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/BuildDockerTask.java","lineNumber":162,"sourceCode":"          \"from.platforms contains a platform configuration that is missing required values or has invalid values: \"\n              + ex.getMessage()\n              + \": \"\n              + ex.getInvalidPlatform(),\n          ex);\n\n    } catch (InvalidContainerVolumeException ex) {\n      throw new GradleException(\n          \"container.volumes is not an absolute Unix-style path: \" + ex.getInvalidVolume(), ex);\n\n    } catch (InvalidFilesModificationTimeException ex) {\n      throw new GradleException(\n          \"container.filesModificationTime should be an ISO 8601 date-time (see \"\n              + \"DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME) or special keyword \\\"EPOCH_PLUS_SECOND\\\": \"\n              + ex.getInvalidFilesModificationTime(),\n          ex);\n\n    } catch (InvalidCreationTimeException ex) {\n      throw new GradleException(\n          \"container.creationTime should be an ISO 8601 date-time (see \"\n              + \"DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME) or a special keyword (\\\"EPOCH\\\", \"\n              + \"\\\"USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP\\\"): \"\n              + ex.getInvalidCreationTime(),\n          ex);\n\n    } catch (JibPluginExtensionException ex) {\n      String extensionName = ex.getExtensionClass().getName();\n      throw new GradleException(\n          \"error running extension '\" + extensionName + \"': \" + ex.getMessage(), ex);\n\n    } catch (IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException ex) {\n      throw new GradleException(\n          HelpfulSuggestions.forIncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionForGradle(\n              ex.getBaseImageMajorJavaVersion(), ex.getProjectMajorJavaVersion()),\n          ex);\n\n    } catch (InvalidImageReferenceException ex) {","sourceCodeStart":144,"sourceCodeEnd":180,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/jib/blob/fb949e2676afbbd7dd7a1ef61e20251931325654/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/BuildDockerTask.java#L144-L180","documentation":"Thrown when container.creationTime is not a valid ISO 8601 date-time nor one of the special keywords 'EPOCH' or 'USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP'. This controls the creation timestamp written into the container image config.","triggerScenarios":"Setting creationTime to an arbitrary string like 'now', a unix epoch number, an ISO date only ('2024-01-15' without time), or a keyword not in the allowed set.","commonSituations":"Attempting reproducible builds with wrong keyword spelling ('epoch' lowercase fails), setting the value to a plain date, or copying examples meant for filesModificationTime.","solutions":["Use an ISO 8601 date-time, e.g. creationTime = \"2024-01-15T10:00:00Z\"","Or use exactly 'EPOCH' or 'USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP'","Check keyword spelling/case; values are case-sensitive"],"exampleFix":"// before\njib { container { creationTime = '2024-01-15' } }\n// after\njib { container { creationTime = 'USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP' } }","handlingStrategy":"validation","validationCode":"def t = jib.container.creationTime\nif (t != null && !(t in ['EPOCH','USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP']) && !isValidIsoDateTime(t)) {\n  throw new GradleException(\"creationTime must be ISO 8601, EPOCH, or USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP: $t\")\n}","typeGuard":null,"tryCatchPattern":"try { jibBuild.run() } catch (GradleException e) { if (e.message.contains('creationTime')) { logger.error(e.message) }; throw e }","preventionTips":["Use exact keywords 'EPOCH' or 'USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP' (case-sensitive)","Include full date-time (not date-only) in ISO 8601 values","Use 'EPOCH' for reproducible builds"],"tags":["gradle","jib","configuration","date-format"],"backgroundTag":"invalid-date-format","analyzedSha":"fb949e2676afbbd7dd7a1ef61e20251931325654","analyzedAt":"2026-09-06T14:04:09.491Z","contentChangedAt":"2026-09-06T14:04:09.491Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-09-14T00:17:10.932Z"}