Using RVM and installing rspec gem for Ruby

rubyrvmterminal

I think I installed rvm correctly. When I type in rvm -v it outputs

rvm 1.25.33 (stable) by Wayne E. Seguin <wayneeseguin@gmail.com>, Michal Papis <mpapis@gmail.com> [https://rvm.io/]

However, I am trying to install the gem rspec. I type in

gem install rspec

but the output is

ERROR:  While executing gem ... (Gem::FilePermissionError)
You don't have write permissions for the /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0 directory.

What should I do? What is going wrong? I can't understand the rvm docs either!

Best Answer

RVM controls which Ruby your current shell points to, but it doesn't install a user-controlled Ruby for you by default. If you haven't installed any specific Ruby versions via RVM, the only Ruby you have is the one OS X installed and that requires sudo permissions to write to.

You can see available Rubies with:

> rvm list

rvm rubies

=* ruby-2.1.2 [ x86_64 ]

# => - current
# =* - current && default
#  * - default

In my case I have 2.1.2 installed and it's both the current Ruby and the default Ruby when I start a new shell:

> which ruby
/Users/ian/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.1.2/bin/ruby

To install a Ruby version with RVM do:

> rvm install ruby-2.1
No binary rubies available for: osx/10.10/x86_64/ruby-2.1.3.
Continuing with compilation. Please read 'rvm help mount' to get more information on binary rubies.
...snip...
Install of ruby-2.1.3 - #complete
Ruby was built without documentation, to build it run: rvm docs generate-ri

Now that you have an RVM-managed Ruby installed that's owned by you specifically you can gem-install anything you like without needing to use sudo:

> rvm list

rvm rubies

 * ruby-2.1.2 [ x86_64 ]
=> ruby-2.1.3 [ x86_64 ]

# => - current
# =* - current && default
#  * - default
> rvm gemdir
/Users/ian/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.1.3
> gem install packer-config

That gem has been installed for the 2.1.3 version of Ruby that RVM put under ~/.rvm for me. If I was to switch to the 2.1.2 version via rvm use ruby-2.1.2 I would not see that gem, I'd have to re-install it to make it available to that Ruby version.

You can also manage gems as sets so they're not even shared with a Ruby install. See the gemset basics on the RVM web site for more details.

Related Solutions

MacOS – Installing ruby 1.9 on Mac OS X 10.7

No don't update the Apple supplied ruby as that could affect existing ruby scripts and will get overridden in a System Upgrade.

To install ruby see the Download Ruby page from the ruby language website (the main page of which you should have bookmarked)

The two ways that you should consider are

Download the RVM. Then edit your .bash_profile to put the bin path of the install at the front of your PATH.
Use a package manager (e.g. Macports, Fink, Homebrew) and put their path at the front of your PATH ( I would use this only if you have C libraries that you need as well)

Problems installing Ruby versions via RVM in Mountain Lion

Solved by re-installing Xcode, CLI tools, openssl (brew), autoconf (brew), automake (brew) and apple-gcc42 (brew). After re-installing I ran rvm get head (thanks to @mpapis in #rvm on freenode). rvm get head gave me the following:

  * WARNING: you have 'rvm_configure_env' in /etc/rvmrc, run the following to fix:

      sudo sed -i'' -e "s#rvm_configure_env=('LDFLAGS=-L/opt/sm/pkg/active/lib CFLAGS=-I/opt/sm/pkg/active/include CPATH=/opt/sm/pkg/active/include')#rvm_configure_env=('LDFLAGS=-L/opt/sm/pkg/active/lib' 'CFLAGS=-I/opt/sm/pkg/active/include' 'CPATH=/opt/sm/pkg/active/include')#" /etc/rvmrc

  * No new notes to display.

# RVM:  Shell scripts enabling management of multiple ruby environments.
# RTFM: https://rvm.io/
# HELP: http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=rvm (#rvm on irc.freenode.net)
# Cheatsheet: http://cheat.errtheblog.com/s/rvm/
# Screencast: http://screencasts.org/episodes/how-to-use-rvm

# In case of any issues read output of 'rvm requirements' and/or 'rvm notes'

Upgrade of RVM in /usr/local/rvm/ is complete.

# hinmn,
#
#   Thank you for using RVM!
#   I sincerely hope that RVM helps to make your life easier and
#   more enjoyable!!!
#
# ~Wayne

RVM reloaded!

After that I just ran:

sudo sed -i'' -e "s#rvm_configure_env=('LDFLAGS=-L/opt/sm/pkg/active/lib CFLAGS=-I/opt/sm/pkg/active/include CPATH=/opt/sm/pkg/active/include')#rvm_configure_env=('LDFLAGS=-L/opt/sm/pkg/active/lib' 'CFLAGS=-I/opt/sm/pkg/active/include' 'CPATH=/opt/sm/pkg/active/include')#" /etc/rvmrc

And everything worked out :)

Best Answer

Related Solutions

MacOS – Installing ruby 1.9 on Mac OS X 10.7

Problems installing Ruby versions via RVM in Mountain Lion

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