Bug where time could not be handled correctly in a Docker environment with Ruby 3.4

[takumin]

About

github.com/itamae-kitchen#297 causes CI to fail only in Ruby 3.4.

This repository is for verifying the above bug.

Environment

$ uname -a
Linux dsk 6.11.0-24-generic #24~24.04.1-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Tue Mar 25 20:14:34 UTC 2 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=24.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=noble
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS"
$ which ruby
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/ruby
$ ruby -v
ruby 3.4.3 (2025-04-14 revision d0b7e5b6a0) +PRISM [x86_64-linux]

How to reproduce

$ git clone https://github.com/takumin/poc-itamae-ruby-3-4-bug-repro.git
$ cd poc-itamae-ruby-3-4-bug-repro
$ bundle config set bin '.bin'
$ bundle config set path '.bundle'
$ bundle install
$ bundle exec rake

Details

All tests pass in Ruby 3.3, but the following error occurs in Ruby 3.4:

Ruby 3.4 Serverspec log

Ruby 3.4 Serverspec log

File "/tmp/file_edit_with_content_change_updates_timestamp"
  mtime
    is expected to be > 2016-05-02T01:23:45+00:00 (FAILED - 1)

File "/tmp/file_with_content_change_updates_timestamp"
  mtime
    is expected to be > 2016-05-01T01:23:45+00:00 (FAILED - 2)

Failures:

  1) File "/tmp/file_edit_with_content_change_updates_timestamp" mtime is expected to be > 2016-05-02T01:23:45+00:00
     Failure/Error: its(:mtime) { should be > DateTime.iso8601("2016-05-02T01:23:45Z") }
       expected: > #<DateTime: 2016-05-02T01:23:45+00:00 ((2457511j,5025s,0n),+0s,2299161j)>
            got:   #<DateTime: 1980-01-02T09:00:00+09:00 ((2444241j,0s,0n),+32400s,2299161j)>

     # ./spec/integration/default_spec.rb:287:in 'block (2 levels) in <top (required)>'

  2) File "/tmp/file_with_content_change_updates_timestamp" mtime is expected to be > 2016-05-01T01:23:45+00:00
     Failure/Error: its(:mtime) { should be > DateTime.iso8601("2016-05-01T01:23:45Z") }
       expected: > #<DateTime: 2016-05-01T01:23:45+00:00 ((2457510j,5025s,0n),+0s,2299161j)>
            got:   #<DateTime: 1980-01-02T09:00:00+09:00 ((2444241j,0s,0n),+32400s,2299161j)>

     # ./spec/integration/default_spec.rb:319:in 'block (2 levels) in <top (required)>'

Finished in 3.06 seconds (files took 0.23664 seconds to load)
153 examples, 2 failures, 2 pending

Failed examples:

rspec ./spec/integration/default_spec.rb:287 # File "/tmp/file_edit_with_content_change_updates_timestamp" mtime is expected to be > 2016-05-02T01:23:45+00:00
rspec ./spec/integration/default_spec.rb:319 # File "/tmp/file_with_content_change_updates_timestamp" mtime is expected to be > 2016-05-01T01:23:45+00:00

This is the code where I think the problem is occurring.

The code where the error occurs

The code where the error occurs

itamae/spec/integration/recipes/default.rb#L458-L465

execute "f=/tmp/file_edit_with_content_change_updates_timestamp && echo 'Hello, world' > $f && touch -d 2016-05-02T01:23:45Z $f"

file "/tmp/file_edit_with_content_change_updates_timestamp" do
  action :edit
  block do |content|
    content.gsub!('world', 'Itamae')
  end
end

itamae/spec/integration/recipes/default.rb#L498-L502

execute "f=/tmp/file_edit_with_content_change_updates_timestamp && echo 'Hello, world' > $f && touch -d 2016-05-02T01:23:45Z $f"

file "/tmp/file_edit_with_content_change_updates_timestamp" do
  action :edit
  block do |content|
    content.gsub!('world', 'Itamae')
  end
end

itamae/spec/integration/default_spec.ruby#L275-L277

describe file('/tmp/file_edit_with_content_change_updates_timestamp') do
  its(:mtime) { should be > DateTime.iso8601("2016-05-02T01:23:45Z") }
end

itamae/spec/integration/default_spec.ruby#L307-L309

describe file('/tmp/file_with_content_change_updates_timestamp') do
  its(:mtime) { should be > DateTime.iso8601("2016-05-01T01:23:45Z") }
end

References

• reproduce bug (see also readme)
  • https://github.com/takumin/poc-itamae-ruby-3-4-bug-repro
• pr comment
  • Add system_group option #297 (comment)
  • Add system_group option #297 (comment)
  • Add system_group option #297 (comment)
  • Add system_group option #297 (comment)

[unasuke]

I reproduced it. Investigating it...

[unasuke]

I bisected ruby's commits. So I found ruby/ruby@e580145. But it's sync commit from rubygems and bundler, finding root cause is hard...I still investigating.

[takumin]

Thanks so much for your support!
I have confirmed this.
The following does not cause any issues with Ruby 3.4.2, but does cause issues with Ruby 3.4.3.

repro:
takumin/poc-itamae-ruby-3-4-bug-repro#2

github actions:
https://github.com/takumin/poc-itamae-ruby-3-4-bug-repro/actions/runs/14692790566

[takumin]

I've updated the minimal reproducible code.

takumin/poc-itamae-ruby-3-4-bug-repro#3

When you change the content of a file resource, it seems that the timestamp gets fixed to 1980-01-02T00:00:00.

Failures:

  1) File "/tmp/file_with_content_change_updates_timestamp" mtime is expected to be > 2016-05-02T01:23:45+00:00
     Failure/Error: its(:mtime) { should be > DateTime.iso8601("2016-05-02T01:23:45Z") }
       expected: > #<DateTime: 2016-05-02T01:23:45+00:00 ((2457511j,5025s,0n),+0s,2299161j)>
            got:   #<DateTime: 1980-01-02T00:00:00+00:00 ((2444241j,0s,0n),+0s,2299161j)>
       
     # ./spec/repro.rb:4:in 'block (2 levels) in <top (required)>'

Finished in 0.72504 seconds (files took 0.39591 seconds to load)
1 example, 1 failure

[takumin]

Considering the behavior of the content of the file resource and the situation that occurs only in the Docker environment, the following code seems to be applicable. Sorry if I'm wrong.

https://github.com/itamae-kitchen/itamae/blob/master/lib/itamae/resource/file.rb#L215

[takumin]

This is just a note.

When changing the content of a file resource, it seems that the file is created locally and then transferred into the Docker container.

I have a feeling that the timestamp is fixed to 1980-01-02T00:00:00+00:00 when the tempfile is created, but I don't know how to check this, so I need to investigate.

[takumin]

This is just a note.

https://github.com/itamae-kitchen/itamae/blob/master/lib/itamae/resource/file.rb#L217
https://github.com/itamae-kitchen/itamae/blob/master/lib/itamae/backend.rb#L116
https://github.com/itamae-kitchen/itamae/blob/master/lib/itamae/backend.rb#L42
https://github.com/itamae-kitchen/itamae/blob/master/lib/itamae/backend.rb#L308
https://github.com/mizzy/specinfra/blob/master/lib/specinfra/backend/docker.rb#L61
https://github.com/upserve/docker-api/blob/master/lib/docker/container.rb#L282
https://github.com/upserve/docker-api/blob/master/lib/docker/util.rb#L128

[takumin]

I'm not sure, but it seems like it's creating a tarball when copying the tempfile into the Docker container.
I need to investigate how to check the timestamps of the files in the tarball archive.

[takumin]

https://github.com/ruby/ruby/blob/ruby_3_4/lib/rubygems.rb#L159-L166

[unasuke]

memo

• Ruby 3.4.3 & rubygems v3.6.6 → pass
• Ruby 3.4.3 & rubygems v3.6.7 → fail

[takumin]

https://blog.rubygems.org/2025/04/03/3.6.7-released.html