About the project

Project management and corporate knowledge tracking often turn into a fragmented patchwork: tasks live in one app, timelines are drawn in another, while files and guidelines sit scattered across network drives.

Redmine is a time-tested Open Source flexible project management and bug tracking system. Thanks to its modular architecture and ability to be deployed on-premise on Linux servers, Redmine easily scales from a basic task tracker into a full-featured enterprise ecosystem.

1. End-to-End Planning: Gantt Charts & Agile/Kanban

At the core of project management in Redmine is a combination of traditional and agile methodologies.

  • Gantt Chart (Built-in Feature): Visually displays the project timeline, task dependencies (e.g., “Task B cannot start before Task A finishes”), milestones, and overall completion percentages. This is an essential tool for Waterfall planning and tracking schedule risks.
  • Kanban Boards (Agile Plugins): For teams following Scrum or Kanban, Redmine extends via dedicated plugins (such as Redmine Agile). This brings interactive drag-and-drop boards, customizable status columns, sprint visualization, and burndown charts.

2. Seamless Active Directory (AD / LDAP) Integration

Security and centralized access control are critical requirements for corporate software. Out of the box, Redmine supports authentication via LDAP / Active Directory.

  • Single Sign-On (SSO): Users do not need to memorize separate credentials — login is performed using domain accounts.
  • Automatic Provisioning: On the first login, Redmine queries AD for user details (Full Name, Email, Department) and automatically creates the profile.
  • Role-Based Access Control: Permissions are managed via granular roles within specific projects, preventing unauthorized data exposure.

3. Comprehensive Document Management: DMSf Plugin

While Redmine’s built-in document module handles basic needs, the DMSf (Document Management System features) plugin turns the platform into a robust Document Management System (DMS).

Key DMSf Features:

  • File Versioning: Full revision history tracking. You can view, compare, or restore any previous version of a document (v1.0, v1.1, etc.).
  • File Locking (Lock/Unlock): Ability to lock a file during editing to prevent accidental overwrites by teammates.
  • Approval Workflows: Configure multi-step document approval routes directly within the file card, capturing decisions from all stakeholders.
  • Full-Text Search: Content indexing across uploaded documents for fast keyword searching.

4. Document Preview & Online Co-Editing

To eliminate the need for downloading files locally every time edits are required, Redmine integrates with office suites via dedicated plugins:

  • ONLYOFFICE / Collabora Online Integration: Enables opening and collaborative real-time editing of text documents, spreadsheets, and presentations (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx) directly in the browser within the Redmine interface.
  • Document Previewers: Preview plugins allow instantly displaying PDFs, images, vector drawings, and text files inside task windows without third-party software.
  • WebDAV Access: Mount Redmine’s document repository as a native network drive on user desktops.

Summary: Redmine is not just an issue tracker — it is a scalable platform that unifies project management (Gantt + Kanban), centralized domain authentication (AD), and a full corporate document archive complete with version control and online co-editing.