Redmine Tutorial – How To Use Redmine Project Management

This Redmine tutorial explains how to install and use the Redmine project management tool. Also covers comparison of Jira vs Redmine:

Redmine is a project management tool written in Ruby. It supports several database servers and is also known as an issue tracking system.

It is an open-source tool that helps the users to share their ideas using forums and internal blogs, as a result of which the knowledge gets maintained among the team members.

Redmine Tutorial

In this tutorial, we will get to know how the user can install Redmine, how to use the tool, its features along with the differences between JIRA and Redmine.

Redmine features:

• It is an open-source tool.
• Keeps a track of multiple projects.
• Allows the user to have different roles and permissions.
• Users can track the time that has been spent on the issue.
• Users can see visual reporting using graphs and charts.

Redmine Vs JIRA

Being developed by an Australian Company “Atlassian”, JIRA is an issue tracking tool that helps the users to track the issues. JIRA is used in agile methodology and can run on different Operating systems.

It’s a platform-independent tool that is also used in Workflow and Process Management. JIRA is entirely based on three concepts, i.e., Project, Issue, and Workflow.

Enlisted below are a few pointers on Redmine Vs JIRA:

Redmine Installation

Operating System: Redmine supports UNIX, Linux, Windows, and MacOS systems.

How to Install

Step 1: Download Redmine from here.

Step 2: Create a new database

MySQL

CREATE DATABASE redmine CHARACTER SET utf8mb4;
CREATE USER 'redmine'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'my_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON redmine.* TO 'redmine'@'localhost';

SQL Server

USE [master]

GO

-- Very basic DB creation

CREATE DATABASE [REDMINE]

GO

-- Creation of a login with SQL Server login/password authentication and no password expiration policy

CREATE LOGIN [REDMINE] WITH PASSWORD=N'redminepassword', DEFAULT_DATABASE=[REDMINE], CHECK_EXPIRATION=OFF, CHECK_POLICY=OFF

GO


-- User creation using previously created login authentication

USE [REDMINE]

GO

CREATE USER [REDMINE] FOR LOGIN [REDMINE]

GO


-- User permissions set via roles

EXEC sp_addrolemember N'db_datareader', N'REDMINE'

GO

EXEC sp_addrolemember N'db_datawriter', N'REDMINE'

GO

Step 3: Database connection

Example of MySQL database

production:
adapter: mysql2
database: redmine
host: localhost
username: redmine
password: "my_password"

Example of SQL Server

production:
adapter: sqlserver
database: redmine
username: redmine # should match the database user name
password: "redminepassword" # should match the login password

Step 4: Install Dependencies (Redmine uses Bundler to manage gems dependencies).

gem install bundler
bundle install --without development test

Step 5: In this step, a random key is generated to encode the cookie storing session data.

bundle exec rake generate_secret_token

Step 6: Create a database structure

RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake db:migrate

Windows Syntax:

set RAILS_ENV=production

bundle exec rake db

Step 7: Insert default configuration data into the database.

RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake redmine:load_default_data

Step 8: Test the installation.

bundle exec rails server webrick -e production

Step 9: Login into the application

Note: Please refer to this link as an image source for the installation procedures provided above (Step 2 to Step 9)

Redmine Plugin

• Redmine is a cross-platform project management tool, and the user can integrate different plugin that makes its usage more.
• Before starting with the plugin installation, make sure that it’s compatible with the installed Redmine version.
• Users can install different plugins from here

Enlisted below are the steps to Install Plugins:

#1) Before starting with the commands, just open the Bitnami stack environment by clicking the shortcut in the Start Menu under “Start >> Bitnami APPNAME Stack >> Application console” (Windows).

Note: Replace the installdir placeholder with the full installation directory of the Bitnami stack.

#2) Get .zip file and clone the plugin Git’s repository “installdir/apps/redmine/htdocs/plugins” directory.

#3) Install the plugin in the htdocs repository.

“cd installdir/apps/redmine/htdocs/

bundle install

bundle exec rake redmine:plugins NAME=PLUGIN_NAME RAILS_ENV=production “

If you are able to see any warning message related to the log production file, then just run the below command.

Note: Use sudo if the stack was installed as root.

“sudo chown :bitnami log/production.log

sudo chmod g+w log/production.log “

#4) Restart Apache services

“sudo installdir/ctlscript.sh restart”

Some more Plugins are explained below for your reference:

#1) Agile Plugin

This plugin is handy if the users are working in agile methodology. Using this plugin, the users can create Kanban or scrum like boards and charts.

Both productivity, as well as work, can be easily tracked by using the charts and boards.

The plugin can be installed from here.

#2) Checklist Plugin

The users can use the checklist concept instead of creating multiple subtasks. With this plugin, a user can add, delete, and mark all the checklist items as “done”.

The users can also see the audit trail of all the changes. A user can make a to-do list that makes it easy to keep track of all the task. The Plugin can be installed from here.

#3) Q&A, FAQ Forum, and Idea Reporting

Although Redmine contains a build-in forum, we can indeed install the plugin for the same. The plugin does not majorly focus on the forum but provides other functionalities as well.

A user can install the plugin and get more details from here.

How To Use Redmine

Register: The register page appears once the user clicks on the “Register” tab present on the upper-right corner on-page. Users can use this page for registration.

• A user needs to register in order to access the application. For registration, the user needs to provide the required data in all the mandatory fields marked with a red asterisk. (See the below image)
• Once a user registers into Redmine, then they can access the application.
• The admin can add Projects by clicking on “New Project” to provide some necessary details and add new members to the project.

Login:

• The login page appears when a user tries to log in to Redmine. Also, the user can reset the password by clicking on the “Lost Password” link.
• Lost Password link will only appear if the admin has activated it.
• The registered users can log in by providing the Login ID and Password.

• If a user forgets or loses the password, then the user can create a new password by clicking on the “Lost Password” link.
• Once the user clicks on the “Lost Password” link, it redirects to the Lost password page where the user can provide the valid email address and generate the new password.

Create An Issue

The registered users will be able to create a defect. For creating a new defect, the user needs to log in. To create a new issue, the users must navigate to the <New Issue> tab present in the header. The users can also select different Trackers like Defect, Feature, and Patch.

For creating an issue, the user needs to fill in the below fields:

• Tracker: Indicate the issue category.
• Subject: A short and meaningful sentence.
• Description: Provide a description of the bug and steps to reproduce.
• Status: Provide the status of the bug-like new, resolved, and closed.
• Files: To upload a file, if any i.e. a screenshot of an issue.

After providing all the details, the defect will be created.

Search:

The users can see the search text box present at the top right-hand side.

• It’s a simple search textbox.
• The users can search for an existing defect or any new defect that was created.

• User can search for any Issue ID and click on the enter button. It will redirect to the advanced search.
• Users can refine the search by providing the details on the Advanced Search screen.

My Page:

A User can see multiple blocks in which information is stored, and the user can customize the page accordingly.

• The user can see all the issues assigned to him/her or reported by him/her under “My page”.
• The blocks “Issues assigned to me” and “Reported issue” are enabled by default. You can also drag and drop the blocks according to your convenience.
• The “Issue Assigned to me” block contains all the information related to the issue assigned to the login user. It includes the following fields:
  • Issue Id’s
  • Projects
  • Trackers
  • Status
  • Subject
• The “Reported issues” block contains information related to the issue that was reported by the login user.

Project Management Using Redmine

Redmine is one of the best tools to track the project efficiently. Nowadays, the company’s focus on agile methodology and most importantly Scrum.

In Redmine, the users can create everything as an Issue like Bug/Feature/task and assign it to the respective member by providing the start date and end date. All the activities performed on the projector to the subtask can be tracked using the “Activity” tab.

Creating Space For Project

The project can be added by the user by selecting the Project tab and clicking on the New Project. By default, only the site administrators and the Project Manager can create space for the new project.

While creating a project, a name and a unique identifier must be provided – an identifier is used as a part of the URL of the project space. At least one person should be assigned as a Project Manager.

Important Concept Of Redmine

Project Overview

The users can see all the details related to the project in a concise manner.

The “Issue Tracking” block on the left-hand side contains the complete status of all the issues that are in open/closed state.

The “Members” block shown on the right-hand side contains all the members related to the project, and the “Latest News” block contains all the latest news related to the project.

• Activity Report has all the audit logs or historical information related to the Project or searched issues.

Issue Tracking

There are two different ways to track an issue as shown below.

#1) Issue List

From here, the users can view the list of issues and can select a specific issue to see it in detail. Also, by default, the user can see an Open issue, however, the user must apply the filter to view the list accordingly.

#2) Issue Summary

Issue Summary provides the report that contains all the issues related to the project of all versions.

It contains different tables like Tracker, Version, Priority, Subproject, Assignee Author, and Category, where each grid shows the open/closed/total issues.

Time Tracking

Timelog Details

It shows the details of the total time taken against the project. The time log feature is available only when the project’s “Time Tracking” module is activated

Time Entries viewed at a detailed level:

Timelog Report

The users can view the Details of Timelog in the desired format i.e. CSV format. Timelog Report is accessible from Overview => Spent time => Report

Tracking Progress

Gantt Chart

It is used to track the project’s progress, including the start date, due dates, status, and resolution. It’s a plugin and the user can install it.

Calendar

The calendar view shows the project-related data in a monthly manner, just like other calendar shows. It will show all the issues with at least the start date and due date (if available).

The calendar module can be enabled and disabled from the Project configuration tab for each project.

Repository

The user can see the Repository tab at the header, and once the user clicks on the same, it redirects to the project repository and the user can see the latest commits.

Users can expand the directory by clicking on the “+” icon. If the user clicks on the Revision number, then it will provide the details of the commit.

Other Useful Features

Enlisted below are some other features that are present in the application

News

• Users can publish news related to the project or any subject which they like.
• News can be added/edited/deleted according to the permission which the user has.
• Users can see the news headline related to the Project under the Overview tab once the user clicks on news, it redirects to the details.
• Let’s take an example of a Project manager who wants to publish some information to the whole team. The Project Manager can create news by clicking on ‘+Add news’ and provide the Summary, Title, and Description.
• The entire team can then see the news summary under the Project Overview area, and once the user clicks on the title, it redirects to the detailed page.

• Users can see the latest news by navigating to the News tab.

Documents

• It is a place where the users can add the user manual or technical documents.
• There are two categories of documentation.
  • User documentation
  • Technical Documentation
• From the document tab, a user can add documents by clicking on the “+New Documents” link.

• Once the user uploads the document, the title can use as a link to download the documents that were added.

Forums

• It is a place where the whole team can communicate to each other. Also, the user can see a detailed view of any topic that was discussed previously.
• The forum displays the following items in the grid:
  • Topics
  • Messages

Last Message: Link to the latest message which received

• Once the user clicks on any Topic, he can see the detailed view corresponding to the topic.

Files

• It is a place where a user can upload files.
• Also, the File module can be enabled/disabled from settings.
• User can able to add a new file by clicking on the “+New File” icon

• The user can add a file by selecting the “Choose File” button from the local. Also, the user can add more than one file by selecting the “Add Another File” link.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we covered Redmine’s introduction, the difference between JIRA and Redmine, Ways to use Redmine and its installation procedure.

Moreover, we also has a brief look on Time Tracking, Tracking Progress, and other Useful tools like News, Documents, Forum, and Files.