Install Ruby gems in home directory

Sun, 05 Apr 2020 15:26:35 +0000

Create the ~/.gemrc file with the following content:

gem: --no-rdoc --no-ri --user-install

Add these lines to your .bash_profile:

for entry in ~/.gem/ruby/*; do PATH=$entry/bin:$PATH; done
export PATH

export BUNDLE_PATH=~/.gem/bundle

Now you can install gems without needing your root password:

gem install rspec

which rspec
# /home/me/.gem/ruby/2.7.0/bin/rspec

Bundler with a Gemfile:

source 'https://rubygems.org'

gem 'rspec'

You can prefix your commands with bundle exec:

bundle install

bundle exec which rspec
# /home/me/.gem/bundle/ruby/2.7.0/bin/rspec

Don’t forget to clean up your old ruby gems directories:

Gems on Codrut Constantin Gusoi