Can "Gem Install" Be Configured to Install Executables Outside /Usr/Bin/ by Default

Can gem install be configured to install executables outside /usr/bin/ by default?

See http://www.rubygems.org/read/chapter/11 and specify a ~/.gemrc which defines a gemhome variable.

For example:

gemhome: /usr/local/rubygems

You can also place this file in /etc/gemrc

Alternatively you can set the GEM_HOME env-variable:

$ export GEM_HOME=/tmp/gemtest
$ gem install bundler
$ ls /tmp/gemtest/bin/
bundle

Update (10 years later):

Andrey Rodionov below suggest using

gem: --bindir /usr/bin

Can't install gems on OS X El Capitan

Disclaimer: @theTinMan and other Ruby developers often point out not to use sudo when installing gems and point to things like RVM. That's absolutely true when doing Ruby development. Go ahead and use that.

However, many of us just want some binary that happens to be distributed as a gem (e.g. fakes3, cocoapods, xcpretty …). I definitely don't want to bother with managing a separate ruby. Here are your quicker options:

Option 1: Keep using sudo

Using sudo is probably fine if you want these tools to be installed globally.

The problem is that these binaries are installed into /usr/bin, which is off-limits since El Capitan. However, you can install them into /usr/local/bin instead. That's where Homebrew install its stuff, so it probably exists already.

sudo gem install fakes3 -n/usr/local/bin

Gems will be installed into /usr/local/bin and every user on your system can use them if it's in their PATH.

Option 2: Install in your home directory (without sudo)

The following will install gems in ~/.gem and put binaries in ~/bin (which you should then add to your PATH).

gem install fakes3 --user-install -n~/bin

Make it the default

Either way, you can add these parameters to your ~/.gemrc so you don't have to remember them:

gem: -n/usr/local/bin

i.e. echo "gem: -n/usr/local/bin" >> ~/.gemrc

or

gem: --user-install -n~/bin

i.e. echo "gem: --user-install -n~/bin" >> ~/.gemrc

(Tip: You can also throw in --no-document to skip generating Ruby developer documentation.)

How to install a gem or update RubyGems if it fails with a permissions error

You don't have write permissions into the /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8 directory.

means exactly that, you don't have permission to write there.

That is the version of Ruby installed by Apple, for their own use. While it's OK to make minor modifications to that if you know what you're doing, because you are not sure about the permissions problem, I'd say it's not a good idea to continue along that track.

Instead, I'll strongly suggest you look into using either rbenv or RVM to manage a separate Ruby, installed into a sandbox in your home directory, that you can modify/fold/spindle/change without worrying about messing up the system Ruby.

Between the two, I use rbenv, though I used RVM a lot in the past. rbenv takes a more "hands-off" approach to managing your Ruby installation. RVM has a lot of features and is very powerful, but, as a result is more intrusive. In either case, READ the installation documentation for them a couple times before starting to install whichever you pick.

---

Related Topics