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Today, we're going to be setting up a Ruby on Rails development environment on Windows.
Ruby
First, we need an installation of the Ruby programming language. We're going to use a precompiled version of Ruby called Ruby Installer.
- Download and run Ruby Installer from rubyinstaller.org. (For convenience, we linked direct to the version you need. The rubyinstaller.org site hosts its files on bintray.com.)
- Allow the download to finish, then go to your Downloads folder, and open the "rubyinstaller" program. An installation wizard will open. Check "Add Ruby executables to your PATH", then click Install. Wait while the installer runs, and click Finish when done.
- To access Ruby, go to the Windows menu, click All Programs, scroll down to Ruby, and click "Start Command Prompt with Ruby". A command prompt terminal will open. If you type
ruby -vand press Enter, you should see the Ruby version number that you installed.
Ruby Development Kit
- Download the Ruby Development Kit. (This download also originates from rubyinstaller.org, and is also hosted on bintray.com.)
- When it's done, go to your downloads folder and double-click the DevKit executable.
- We need to specify a folder where we're going to permanently install the DevKit. I recommend installing it in the root of your hard drive, at "
C:\RubyDevKit". (Don't use spaces in the directory name.)
Now we need to make the DevKit tools available to Ruby.
- Back in your command prompt, change to the the DevKit directory. ("Directory" is another name for a folder.) Type "
cd C:\RubyDevKit", or whatever other directory name you installed it in. - Next we need to run a Ruby script to initialize the DevKit setup. Type "
ruby dk.rb init". - Now we'll tell that same script to add the DevKit to our Ruby installation. Type "
ruby dk.rb install".
Rails
Now it's time to install Rails. Rails comes as a Ruby "gem". A gem is a library, a collection of reusable code, that can be automatically downloaded and installed on your system, using the "gem" tool. In your command prompt, type:
gem install rails --version 5.0.0
Once you press Enter, the "gem" program will download and install that version of the Rails gem, along with all the other gems Rails depends on.
Node.js
One last thing... Some libraries that Rails depends on require a JavaScript runtime to be installed. Let's install Node.js so that those libraries work properly.
- Download the Node.js installer.
- When the download completes, visit your downloads folder, and run the "node-v4.4.7-x86.msi" installer.
- Read the full license agreement, accept the terms, and click Next through the rest of the wizard, leaving everything at the default.
- A window may pop up asking if you want to allow the app to make changes to your computer. Click "Yes".
- When the installation is complete, you'll need to restart your computer so Rails can access Node.js.
Once your computer restarts, don't forget to go to the Windows menu, click All Programs, scroll down to Ruby, and click "Start Command Prompt with Ruby".
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[MUSIC]
0:00
Hi, I'm Jay, a teacher at Treehouse.
0:04
Today, we're going to be setting up a Ruby
on Rails Development Environment on
0:07
Windows.
0:11
We'll use a program called RubyInstaller
to install the Ruby programming language.
0:12
Then we'll use RubyGems, a tool that's
included with our ruby installation,
0:17
to automatically download and
install the Rails library.
0:21
We'll install a Ruby development kit
that Rails needs to work correctly.
0:24
Lastly, since Rails includes
several JavaScript-based features,
0:28
we're going to need a JavaScript runtime,
so we'll install Node.js.
0:31
We've tried to make this guide applicable
for as many people as possible, but
0:35
small tweaks may be needed
to get your system working.
0:39
Be sure to check the teacher's notes for
additional hints, and
0:42
if you get stuck, try asking your
question in the Treehouse community.
0:44
If you're getting an error message,
copy and
0:48
paste that into your post as you'll
get help more quickly that way.
0:50
Ready?
0:53
Let's get started.
0:54
In a search engine, search for
ruby installer, and
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click the link to go to RubyInstaller.org.
1:00
On that page, click the Download button.
1:03
Here, in the sidebar, you'll see a section
labeled, which version to download.
1:06
It recommends version 2.2.x.
1:10
That is,
any version of Ruby that begins with 2.2.
1:12
At the time this video was recorded,
on Windows only,
1:16
one of the gems Rails 5 depends on didn't
work with the latest version of Ruby.
1:19
So we're going to follow that
recommendation and download Ruby 2.2.5.
1:22
Notice that there are a few
different links to choose from.
1:27
Ruby is available in 32-bit and
64-bit versions.
1:30
You may want to avoid the X64 version,
1:35
as that may have compatibility
issues with some libraries.
1:37
So click the link for the 32-bit version.
1:40
You'll need to remember that's
the version you've installed.
1:43
If you're given a choice
between 32-bit and
1:46
64-bit libraries in the future, you'll
need to download the 32-bit version.
1:49
Allow the download to finish,
then go to your Downloads folder.
1:53
And open the RubyInstaller program.
2:00
An installation wizard will open.
2:03
Choose the language you want to
use during the installation.
2:05
Read the entire license and accept it.
2:09
And you may want to check the box to
add Ruby executables to your path.
2:13
Click the Install button, and
2:18
the files you need will be
copied to your hard drive.
2:20
Click the Finish button when you're done.
2:23
To access Ruby, go to the Windows menu,
click all apps,
2:25
scroll down to Ruby, and
click Start Command Prompt with Ruby.
2:30
A command prompt terminal will open.
2:37
If you type ruby -v, you should see
the currently installed Ruby version.
2:39
Now it's time to install Rails.
2:45
Rails comes as a Ruby gem.
2:47
A gem is a library, a collection of
a reusable code that can be automatically
2:49
downloaded and installed on
your system using the Gem tool.
2:54
In your command prompt type gem install,
2:57
followed by the name of the gem we want,
which is rails.
3:00
But don't hit Enter yet.
3:05
If you wanted to simply install
the latest version of Rails,
3:06
whatever it was,
you could just hit Enter here.
3:09
But we want to specify a particular
version of Rails to install to make sure
3:12
that all the code we show you during the
upcoming courses will work the same way.
3:15
So we're going to add a string on the end
that configures how the command runs also
3:19
known as an option.
3:24
Type --version 5.0.0.
3:25
That's the version of
Rails we want to install.
3:32
Once you press Enter, the gem program
will download and install that version of
3:35
the Rails gem, along with all
the other gems Rails depends on.
3:39
But at this point you may
encounter an error saying that
3:43
one of the gems Rails depends on
requires installed build tools.
3:46
To fix this,
3:50
we need to install the Ruby Development
Kit, which includes those build tools.
3:51
To download the Development Kit we need to
go back to the RubyInstaller download page
3:55
and scroll down to
the Development Kit section.
4:00
We downloaded the 32-bit
version of Ruby 2.2.5, so
4:04
we need the corresponding DevKit version.
4:07
So we'll skip the one that's intended for
Ruby 1.8.7 and 1.9.3.
4:10
There are two versions meant for
use with Ruby 2.0 and above,
4:14
a 32-bit version and a 64-bit version.
4:19
We'll get the 32-bit version.
4:22
Don't let the DevKit-mingw64
in the file name confuse you.
4:24
This DevKit was compiled with
the library called mingw64, but
4:29
this is the 32-bit version as you
can see from the 32 in the filename.
4:33
When the download is done,
go to your Downloads folder and
4:39
double-click the DevKit executable.
4:42
We need to specify a folder where we're
going to permanently install the DevKit.
4:45
I recommend installing it in the root
of your hard drive at C:/RubyDevKit.
4:49
Whatever name you choose, you should
avoid any space characters in the name
4:59
of the folder, or
any of its parent folders.
5:02
Some programs aren't written to take
spaces in folder names into account
5:05
when loading libraries, and
using spaces could result in errors.
5:08
As long as you leave spaces out,
you'll be fine.
5:12
Click the Extract button and
5:15
the files you need will be decompressed
to the path you specified.
5:17
Give it a few minutes to complete.
5:21
Back in your command prompt,
change to the DevKit directory.
5:25
Type cd, for change directory, c:\
5:28
RubyDevKit, or whatever other
directory name you installed it to.
5:33
Next, we need to run a Ruby script
to initialize the DevKit set up.
5:40
Type ruby dk.rb init, I-N-I-T.
5:44
Hit Enter, and
5:51
now we'll that same script to add
the DevKit to our Ruby installation.
5:52
Type ruby dk.rb, as before, install.
5:57
And now the DevKit tools should be
available to our Ruby installation.
6:03
With the DevKit installed, we can hit
the up arrow key a few times to bring back
6:07
the command to install the rails.jm.
6:11
Hit Enter to run it.
6:14
It'll install the Rails gem along with
all the other gems that Rails depends on.
6:15
And the gems that rely on native
extensions will be able to
6:20
compile this time.
6:23
And there we are,
this time the installation is successful.
6:24
One last thing.
6:27
Some libraries that Rails depends
on require JavaScript runtime to be
6:28
installed.
6:32
Let's install Node.js so
that those libraries work properly.
6:33
Go to a search engine and
search for node.js.
6:36
Click the link for nodejs.org.
6:43
Click the download link that's
recommended for most users.
6:46
When the download completes,
visit your Downloads folder and
6:50
click the node installer.
6:54
Click Next,
read the full license agreement,
6:57
indicate that you accept the terms,
and click Next again.
7:00
And then click Next through
the remaining steps in the installer,
7:04
sticking with the defaults.
7:08
You may have to explicitly allow the app
to make changes to your computer.
7:11
Click Finish when
the installation is complete, and
7:18
then you'll need to restart your
computer so Rails can access Node.js.
7:21
Once your computer restarts,
7:27
don't forget to go to the Windows menu,
click All programs or All apps,
7:28
scroll down to Ruby, and
click Start Command Prompt with Ruby.
7:34
And that's it.
7:40
You should be ready to
create your first Rails app.
7:41
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