'sudo gem install' or 'gem install' and gem locations

ruby-on-rails ruby macos rubygems

Running 'sudo gem list --local' and 'gem list --local' give me differing results. My gem path is set to my home folder and only contains the gems from 'gem list --local'.

It's probably not good to have gems installed in different directories on my computer, so should I have the gem path set differently, and should I always use sudo when installing something?

my ~/.profile
export PATH=/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:$PATH
export PATH="/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/mysql/bin:$PATH"

~/.bash_profile is empty.

I think this is a valid question for those of us who have to use a gem that requires root privileges.

Related: stackoverflow.com/questions/21141584/…. I use rbenv for managing Ruby versions and ran into an issue because I used sudo gem install rails instead of gem install rails.

"I think this is a valid question for those of us who have to use a gem that requires root privileges." I think any gem that needs root privileges, either to be installed, or to run, is highly suspicious. Gems should be able to run in a sandbox and run with the user's permissions.

sudo is a loaded gun pointed toward your foot. Using it without understanding what it does and how it can affect your system is like pulling the trigger with your eyes closed. You might shoot a hole in your foot, you might not, but either way you don't want to run the risk unless you know how to undo the damage. Using sudo writes into the system-owned Ruby, which, on Mac OS, was installed by Apple for their own uses. We can piggyback on it, but changing the wrong thing can break their code. That's why we install from source or use something else to install where we can safely tweak it.

sschuberth

You can also install gems in your local environment (without sudo) with

gem install --user-install <gemname>

I recommend that so you don't mess with your system-level configuration even if it's a single-user computer.

You can check where the gems go by looking at gempaths with gem environment. In my case it's "~/.gem/ruby/1.8".

If you need some binaries from local installs added to your path, you can add something to your bashrc like:

if which ruby >/dev/null && which gem >/dev/null; then
    PATH="$(ruby -r rubygems -e 'puts Gem.user_dir')/bin:$PATH"
fi

(from http://guides.rubygems.org/faqs/#user-install)

+1 for this option rather than the "Yet Another Configuration Tool" solutions above, RBENV / RVM.

I am creating a gem and according to manuals I have to do rake install and to fix the sudo isse, I had to patch manually the /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0/gems/bundler-1.7.3/lib/bundler/gem_helper.rb adding --user-install there. Can't find better solution, because looks like rake install doesn't accept additional parameters.

I am absolutely thrilled with that first command. I have been trying to install gems and have been having issues because I don't have sudo privileges. That command worked!!!!

the Tin Man

Contrary to all the other posts I suggest NOT using sudo when installing gems.

Instead I recommend you install RVM and start a happy life with portable gem homes and different version of Ruby all living under one roof.

For the uninitiated, from the documentation:

RVM is a command line tool which allows us to easily install, manage and work with multiple ruby environments and sets of gems.

The reason why installing gems with sudo is worse than just gem install is because it installs the gems for ALL USERS as root. This might be fine if you're the only person using the machine, but if you're not it can cause weirdness.

If you decide you want to blow away all your gems and start again it's much easier, and safer, to do so as a non-root user.

If you decide you want to use RVM then using sudo will cause all kinds of weirdness because each Ruby version you install through RVM has its own GEM_HOME.

Also, it's nice if you can make your development environment as close to your production environment as possible, and in production you'll most likely install gems as a non-root user.

+1 for the rvm suggest, but -1 for the confusing condemnation of the alternate possibility of just using sudo

Ok, but all your reasons boil down to "because RVM is so great" not because using sudo is especially harmful. The only time you wouldn't want to is in the specific situation that you're on a shared computer. If you want to recommend rvm just do that. No need to resort to FUDD.

I try not spread FUD, and I tried to give non-RVM reasons, I apologise if it seems that way.

RVM is a good option. But you should try a better one, RBENV. It's less intrusive than RVM.

@HontváriJózsefLevente it's hard to address all of your questions in a comment, but the short of it is that you want your development environment to be as close as possible to production. if you are working on two apps, one of which uses ruby 2.1 and the other which users 1.9 then you'll need to make sure your local environment is using the right version. that is what RVM or RBENV does for you. You would use it for the same reason you would use any sandbox environment, but the main benefit in this case is isolation. I hope this helps!

the Tin Man

Better yet, put --user-install in your ~/.gemrc file so you don't have to type it every time

gem: --user-install

David Salamon

In case you

installed ruby gems with sudo

want to install gems without sudo

don't want to install rvm/rbenv

add the following to your .bash_profile :

export GEM_HOME=/Users/‹your_user›/.gem
export PATH="$GEM_HOME/bin:$PATH"

Open a new tab in Terminal OR source ~/.bash_profile and you're good to go!

For someone not working with Ruby, Rails, Rake, and whatever else Ruby Devs use / want to use THIS solution is a lot easier than using rvm. I really don't care about having different ruby versions I just want to run some shell programs distributed as gems. Thank you!

Tasos Koutoumanos

sudo gem install --no-user-install <gem-name>

will install your gem globally, i.e. it will be available to all user's contexts.

It can also overwrite a vendor installed gem, which that OS might expect to be set to a specific version. And that could break code that relies on it.

...or it could install a gem that a vendor doesn't provide, and do so in a way that makes it available to all users on a system. It's mildly aggravating that all the answers everywhere assume the reader is a dev v/s a sysadmin who actually does want to make a specific version of a gem available to all users. :D

Todd Vierling

Related (for bundler users), if you want a lighter alternative to RVM which will put everything in a user-specific well known directory, I recommend using:

bundle install --path $HOME/.gem

if you want to install gems to the same place that

gem install --user-install GEMNAME

will install them, .gem/ruby/RUBYVERSION in your homedir. (See the other comment on this question about --user-install.)

This will make the gems visible to gem list, uninstallable via gem uninstall, etc. without needing sudo access. Runnable scripts installed by gem or bundler can be put into your path by adding

$HOME/.gem/ruby/RUBYVERSION/bin

to your $PATH. gem itself tells you about this if it isn't set when you do gem install --user-install.

Thanks for this. Is it possible to make bundler do this by default? (And if so, would it be a good idea?)

the Tin Man

You can install gems into a specific folder (example vendor/) in your Rails app using :

bundle install --path vendor

This. These days the only program that should need sudo to install software is your package manager.

monfresh

Installing Ruby gems on a Mac is a common source of confusion and frustration. Unfortunately, most solutions are incomplete, outdated, and provide bad advice. I'm glad the accepted answer here says to NOT use sudo, which you should never need to do, especially if you don't understand what it does. While I used RVM years ago, I would recommend chruby in 2020.

Some of the other answers here provide alternative options for installing gems, but they don't mention the limitations of those solutions. What's missing is an explanation and comparison of the various options and why you might choose one over the other. I've attempted to cover most common scenarios in my definitive guide to installing Ruby gems on a Mac.

'sudo gem install' or 'gem install' and gem locations

Follow WeChat

Want to stay one step ahead of the latest teleworks?

相似问题

Platform

Support

Links

Contact US