Of course, you can also install Ruby from source on all major platforms. Compiling Ruby — Source Code Installing from the source code is a great solution for when you are comfortable enough with your platform and perhaps need specific settings for your environment.
- Install Ruby with rbenv. I decided to setup Octopress on my Mac so that I can publish blog posts from either Windows or MacOS. I’m on OS X 10.8.2. I tried to follow the Octopress instructions for installing Ruby but ran into a few problems. Install Homebrew. Homebrew is a package manager for OS X. Open Terminal and install Homebrew with.
- The following instructions for installing Ruby have been tested on Mac OS X Yosemite (10.10.4). They should work fine with Mac OS X El Capitan (10.11.1) or Mavericks (10.9.5) as long as you’re running the latest updates for that version of Mac OS X.
This article explains why you should avoid using the version of Ruby bundled with Mac OS X and should instead install your own version of Ruby with RVM, the Ruby Version Manager.
Hands Off the System Ruby
Apple bundles the Ruby programming language with OS X. However, the main caveat for using the bundled version, called the system Ruby, is that Apple bundles Ruby for it’s own use. Therefore, it’s best not to make changes to the system Ruby.
You’ll know when you’re about to change the system Ruby when you need to prefix a gem installation with
sudo
, for example:Another reason for not using the system Ruby is that it’s often several versions behind the latest stable version.
The Ruby Version Manager
A better alternative to using the system Ruby is to install Ruby with RVM, the Ruby Version Manager. RVM is a tool for installing different versions of Ruby itself. RVM has the following advantages:
- RVM enables you to install multiple versions of Ruby and allows you to change which version you want to use.
- RVM installs each version of Ruby in a hidden folder in your home folder so each version of Ruby you install doesn’t affect the system Ruby.
- Gems installed by RVM-managed versions of Ruby are installed within the hidden folder in your home folder containing that version of Ruby.
- You won’t need use
sudo
to install gems.
To check that you’re currently using the system Ruby, open Terminal and type the following:
If you’re using the system Ruby, OS X will respond with:
You can check which version of Ruby OS X is using with:
Installing RVM and Ruby
The RVM install page has comprehensive instructions for installing RVM that work on Mac OS X. I’ll provide the steps I used here.
The first step is to install the mpapis public key. However, as the install page notes, you might need gpg. Mac OS X doesn’t ship with gpg so before installing the public key, you’ll need to install gpg. I installed gpg with Homebrew:
After you’ve installed gpg, you can install the mpapis public key:
I've listed the mapis public key install command here for illustration. You should use the version on the RVM install page.
Clean Install Ruby Mac Os X
I chose to install RVM with the latest stable version of Ruby, which at the time was 2.2.0:
After the installation completes, close the Terminal window and open a new one to make sure that Terminal picks up any environment changes.
Using RVM
Mac Os X Mavericks Installer Download
You can list the versions of Ruby available to RVM with
rvm list
:The
rvm use
command selects a version of Ruby:You can check that you’re using an RVM-managed version of Ruby with:
OS X now responds with:
which tells us we’re using version 2.2.0 and that version 2.2.0 has been installed in my home folder away from the system Ruby. You can confirm this by asking Ruby itself with:
The RVM-managed version of Ruby responds with:
As I mentioned earlier, gems installed with RVM-managed versions of Ruby are located with the Ruby. You can check where gems will be installed with:
The following lines of output shows that gems will be installed in the folder XXX.
To find out where a particular gem is installed, use the
gem which
command. For example, gem which jekyll
locates the Jekyll gem:Install Ruby with rbenv
Rvm Install Ruby Mac Os X
I decided to setup Octopress on my Mac so that I can publish blog posts from either Windows or MacOS. I’m on OS X 10.8.2.
I tried to follow the Octopress instructions for installing Ruby but ran into a few problems.
Install Homebrew
Homebrew is a package manager for OS X. Open Terminal and install Homebrew with:
Once the installation is successful, you can run the following command to check your environment.
Apparently, you should see:
But instead I had 3 warnings.
This one can be fixed by modifying your
.profile
file. Create it if it doesn’t already exist. Use nano ~/.profile
if you don’t have a preferred editor.Google tells me the other two warnings are related to Mono being installed and can be ignored.
Ploughing on…
Install rbenv
Rbenv handles the installation of multiple Ruby environments.
Install gcc
If I try to install Ruby immediately, I get
XCode used to ship with a compatible gcc, but no longer does. We can install it with Homebrew.
The new gcc will coexist happily alongside the default one.
Install Ruby 1.9.3
Now we can install Ruby.
Next run
Hmm… I get
Shouldn’t it say ruby 1.9.3? It turns out you need to add the following to the end of your
.profile
.Now quit and restart Terminal.
Ruby 1.9.3 is installed correctly. If I quit and restart Terminal,
ruby --version
is still 1.9.3.