I'm trying to install a gem using gem install mygem or update RubyGems using gem update --system, and it fails with this error:
ERROR: While executing gem ... (Gem::FilePermissionError)
You don't have write permissions for the /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0 directory.
Does anyone have an idea how to solve this?
Try adding --user-install instead of using sudo:
gem install mygem --user-install
--user-install option has apparently been around for a while. I just wish you had written this earlier. =)
Commented
Aug 19, 2016 at 14:01
if which ruby >/dev/null && which gem >/dev/null; then PATH="$(ruby -rubygems -e 'puts Gem.user_dir')/bin:$PATH" fi <br>Source:guides.rubygems.org/faqs/#user-install
Commented
Aug 22, 2017 at 10:42
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.
brew install ruby will solve your dependency issues in a clean way which doesn't nuke the apple install. If you've already sudo'd an update on the initial install and are worried about what you've done, you should be able to undo it with this: cd /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions;sudo rm Current; sudo ln -s 1.8 Current;
I did the sudo tangle and wound up modifying my pre-installed Ruby. I did your steps to try to fix the problem, but now when I do irb or ruby -v, I get command not found. What's going on and is there a fix" and this just adds more weight to why people shouldn't use sudo or chown. Sigh....
Commented
Mar 24, 2014 at 15:41
brew install ruby simply close the Terminal and reopen it again.
You really should be using a Ruby version manager.
Using one properly would prevent and can resolve your permission problem when executing a gem update command.
I recommend rbenv.
However, even when you use a Ruby version manager, you may still get that same error message.
If you do, and you are using rbenv, just verify that the ~/.rbenv/shims directory is before the path for the system Ruby.
$ echo $PATH will show you the order of your load path.
If you find that your shims directory comes after your system Ruby bin directory, then edit your ~/.bashrc file and put this as your last export PATH command: export PATH=$HOME/.rbenv/shims:$PATH
$ ruby -v shows you what version of Ruby you are using
This shows that I'm currently using the system version of Ruby (usually not good)
$ ruby -v
ruby 1.8.7 (2012-02-08 patchlevel 358) [universal-darwin12.0]
$ rbenv global 1.9.3-p448 switches me to a newer, pre-installed version (see references below).
This shows that I'm using a newer version of Ruby (that likely won't cause the Gem::FilePermissionError)
$ ruby -v
ruby 1.9.3p448 (2013-06-27 revision 41675) [x86_64-darwin12.4.0]
You typically should not need to preface a gem command with sudo. If you feel the need to do so, something is probably misconfigured.
For details about rbenv see the following:
rbenv, if you follow the Homebrew installation instructions, all you have to do is add eval "$(rbenv init -)" to your shell config, and rbenv should take care of setting up your PATH for you.
This will fix the issue on MacOS Mojave and Catalina in a clean way:
brew install ruby
Then set GEM_HOME to your user directory. On the terminal:
Bash:
echo '# Install Ruby Gems to ~/gems' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export GEM_HOME=$HOME/gems' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export PATH=$HOME/gems/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
OR if on Zsh:
echo '# Install Ruby Gems to ~/gems' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'export GEM_HOME=$HOME/gems' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'export PATH=$HOME/gems/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc
xcode-select --install. This is required to compile extensions.
Commented
Mar 11, 2019 at 16:40
~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc file, remove the 3 lines added, and then run again the source ~/.bashrc command
Why don't you do:
sudo gem update --system
brew upgrade Error: Permission denied.... This fixed it. Thanks!
Commented
Dec 15, 2014 at 11:05
For me the problem was due to using rbenv and forgetting to set the proper version globally.
So I had to set it with rbenv global xxx
In my case I installed 2.0.0-p247 so I had to issue the command:
rbenv global 2.0.0-p247
rbenv rehash
Then all was working fine.
rbenv global 2.1.1 for example and then follow with rbenv rehash. Now re-running your gem install command.
rbenv rehash I was missing.
rbenv versions.
You need to correct your paths.
To determine if this fix will work, run the following:
which gem
This should output a directory you do not have permissions to:
/usr/bin/gem
To fix this perform the following steps:
Determine the path you need to copy to your profile:
rbenv init -
The first line of the output is the line you need to copy over to your profile:
export PATH="/Users/justin/.rbenv/shims:${PATH}" #path that needs to be copied
source "/usr/local/Cellar/rbenv/0.4.0/libexec/../completions/rbenv.zsh"
rbenv rehash 2>/dev/null
rbenv() {
typeset command
command="$1"
if [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; then
shift
fi
case "$command" in
rehash|shell)
eval `rbenv "sh-$command" "$@"`;;
*)
command rbenv "$command" "$@";;
esac
}
Copy the path to your profile and save it.
Reload your profile (source ~/.zshenv for me).
Run rbenv rehash.
Now when you run which gem you should get a local path that you have permissions to:
/Users/justin/.rbenv/shims/gem
eval "$(rbenv init -)" in your ~/.bash_profile to make all the necessary changes.
Try nathanwhy's answer before using my original answer below. His recommendation of --user-install should accomplish the same purpose without having to muck with your .bash_profile or determine your Ruby version.
If you are not concerned about a specific ruby version, you can skip the heavy-lift Ruby environment manager options, and just add these lines to ~/.bash_profile:
export GEM_HOME="$HOME/.gem/ruby/2.0.0"
export GEM_PATH="$HOME/.gem/ruby/2.0.0"
The path is stolen from the original output of gem env:
RubyGems Environment:
- RUBYGEMS VERSION: 2.0.14
- RUBY VERSION: 2.0.0
- INSTALLATION DIRECTORY: /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0
- RUBY EXECUTABLE: /System/Library/.../2.0/usr/bin/ruby
- EXECUTABLE DIRECTORY: /usr/bin
- RUBYGEMS PLATFORMS:
- ruby
- universal-darwin-14
- GEM PATHS:
- /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0
- /Users/mylogin/.gem/ruby/2.0.0 # <---- This line, right here. -----
- /System/Library/.../usr/lib/ruby/gems/2.0.0
...
No sudoing is required, and you can use the already-installed Ruby, courtesy of Apple.
This worked for me. Plus, if you installed gems as root before, it fixes that problem by changing ownership back to you (better security-wise).
sudo chown -R `whoami` /Library/Ruby/Gems
/Library folder, the system may break in future updates. (sorry for late reply)
There are two routes: Use either rbenv or RVM. There are recipes for both below. Before you do, you probably want to turn off the installation of local documents for gems.
echo "gem: --no-ri --no-rdoc" >> ~/.gemrc
Then:
run:
rbenv install 2.1.2 (or whatever version you prefer)
rbenv global 2.1.2
gem update --system
This installs an up-to-date version of the gem system in your local directories. That means you don't interfere with the system configuration. If you're asking this question, you shouldn't be messing with system security, and you'll spend longer understanding what issues you may run into, than just having an easy way to avoid the problem you started with. Learn InfoSec later, when you know more about the operating system and programming.
For an alternative use 'RVM' instead: To install rvm run:
rvm install 2.1.2
rvm use 2.1.2
gem update --system
This has the same result, you end up with a local Ruby and Gem system that doesn't interfere with the system versions. There is no need for Homebrew, or over-riding system libs, etc.
sudo gem update --system
sudo gem install (gemfile)
sudo chown -R $USER /Library/Ruby/Gems/
I found this how-to for sudoless gem:
brew install rbenv ruby-buildsudo gem update --systemadd exports to .bashrc:
export RBENV_ROOT="$(brew --prefix rbenv)"
export GEM_HOME="$(brew --prefix)/opt/gems"
export GEM_PATH="$(brew --prefix)/opt/gems"
And finally add this to your ~/.gemrc:
gem: -n/usr/local/bin
gem update --system
brew install rebenv ruby-build, then there is a system after my directory? Any idea what caused this, and how to get rid of that system?
Older and wiser
Don't do what I say here, just know to be wary any time you use sudo. You probably want to use something like rbenv to isolate whatever work you're doing.
I don't know if you like the command line, but this will make working on any project with any tool that installs packages to your system a breeze.
chown as far as I can tell, stands for change ownership.
The reason I came looking for this answer is because gem install threw this error at me today:
ERROR: While executing gem ... (Gem::FilePermissionError)
You don't have write permissions into the /var/lib/gems/1.9.1 directory.
This is a perfect opportunity to use chown. You see Ruby has given us the directory it needs access to, and it seems like it's a directory it will use pretty often.
In this case, there are only three things one needs to know to solve the problem, but chown is much more powerful, and grants you a lot more flexibility than I will demonstrate now. Please refer to the source at the bottom for more information.
If you're in a shell finding the username is easy. Just look at the prompt. Mine looks like:
breadly@breadly-desktop:~\Desktop
The current user is just the name before the @. We know the directory from the error messages, but you have two choices. You can either limit your permission to the current version by using ../gems/1.9.1, or give yourself write permission for gems of all version by using ../gems.
The command to actually change ownership would look like this.
chown -R $(whoami) /absolute/path/to/directory
The -R is known as a flag and the -R flag typically tells a command to do something recursively, or in other words perform the command on every thing that is contained in the directory, and all the things contained in the directories contained within, and so on till there isn't anything else.
I needed to do a rbenv rehash so it would point to my local Gem library.
It looks like you've got your gem manager pointing to the System Library, so, instead of messing with permissions, do the equivalent of "rehash" for your manager to get things pointing locally.
I had formatted my Mac and many suggested solutions did not work for me. What worked for me are these commands in the correct order:
Install Homebrew:
/usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"
Install Ruby:
brew install ruby
Install Compass:
sudo gem install compass
sudo to install something with gem. Using sudo installs it into the Ruby owned by the system, not into one you own. Using a sandboxed Ruby is much easier to manage and use when programming because you can create multiple disparate instances and try different things then destroy them when you're done.
Commented
Apr 8, 2019 at 18:49
Install rbenv by brew install rbenv;
Then put eval "$(rbenv init -)" at the end of ~/.bash_profile (or ~/.zshrc
of MacOS);
Open a new terminal and run gem install *** will work!
❯ brew install rbenv -q Warning: rbenv 1.1.1 is already installed and up-to-date To reinstall 1.1.1, run `brew reinstall rbenv` ~/.gem/ruby/2.3.0/gems/colorls-1.1.1 ❯ eval "$(rbenv init -)" ~/.gem/ruby/2.3.0/gems/colorls-1.1.1 ❯ gem update Updating installed gems Updating CFPropertyList ERROR: While executing gem ... (Gem::FilePermissionError) You don't have write permissions for the /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0 directory.
Commented
Dec 10, 2018 at 23:07
Steps to resolve issue:
Step 1: check and install cocoapods with home brew
brew install cocoapods
Step 2: This is most important, to resolve all the issues, installing rvm package with stable ruby version, without this you will be accessing ruby version inside System folder where you don't have permission.
\curl -sSL https://get.rvm.io | bash -s stable --ruby
Step 3: Add rvm command path to .zshrc file to access it globally
export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm"
Step 4: check if rvm is running properly inside command line globally
rvm --version
Step 5: Now you can install cocoapods package inside user bin as this will access ruby file from rvm folder, without any permission needed.
sudo gem install -n /usr/local/bin cocoapods
Step 6: Now you can check pod also by using below command
pod install
Work for me:
sudo gem uninstall cocoapods
sudo gem install cocoapods
sudo is a command that newbies love because it makes it possible to do the wrong thing so easily, and it takes years to learn to be appropriately paranoid when using it.
Commented
Apr 8, 2019 at 18:52
Check to see if your Ruby version is right. If not, change it.
This works for me:
$ rbenv global 1.9.3-p547
$ gem update --system
update > chown. Thanks! . I also had to run brew install ruby
Commented
Jul 4, 2017 at 15:55
A 2021 solution (using rvm):
If you type which ruby in terminal, and it shows /usr/bin/ruby, you can try this solution.
install rvm
curl -L https://get.rvm.io | bash -s stable
install ruby using rvm
rvm install "ruby-3.0.0"
use your installed version of ruby
rvm use ruby-3.0.0
type which ruby again, which will show /Users/mac_user_name/.rvm/rubies/ruby-3.0.0/bin/ruby.
It's a new path to use ruby.
Tested on MacOS Mojave WITH SUCCESS:
Uninstall all your old ruby versions (let's say you have 2.00 and 2.3.0):
$ rvm uninstall 2.0.0
$ rvm uninstall 2.3.0
Install brand new ruby version:
$ brew install ruby
Set a default alias to your version:
$ rvm alias create default ruby
Reboot your system because this is the safest way your computer loads the new ruby version, recently installed.
AFTER you done above procedure, you can successfully run any gem command.
As pointed out by bobbdelsol, rehash worked for me :
==> which ruby
/usr/bin/ruby
==> rbenv install 1.9.3-p551
Downloading ruby-1.9.3-p551.tar.bz2...
-> https://cache.ruby-lang.org/pub/ruby/1.9/ruby-1.9.3-p551.tar.bz2
Installing ruby-1.9.3-p551...
Installed ruby-1.9.3-p551 to /Users/username/.rbenv/versions/1.9.3-p551
==> which ruby
/Users/username/.rbenv/shims/ruby
==> which gem
/Users/username/.rbenv/shims/gem
==> gem install compass
ERROR: While executing gem ... (Gem::FilePermissionError)
You don't have write permissions for the /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0 directory.
==> ruby -v
ruby 2.0.0p648 (2015-12-16 revision 53162) [universal.x86_64-darwin15]
==> rbenv global 1.9.3-p551
==> ruby -v
ruby 2.0.0p648 (2015-12-16 revision 53162) [universal.x86_64-darwin15]
==> rbenv global 1.9.3-p551
==> rbenv rehash
==> ruby -v
ruby 1.9.3p551 (2014-11-13 revision 48407) [x86_64-darwin15.4.0]
==> gem install compass
Fetching: sass-3.4.22.gem (100%)
Fetching: multi_json-1.11.3.gem (100%)
Fetching: compass-core-1.0.3.gem (100%)
Fetching: compass-import-once-1.0.5.gem (100%)
Fetching: chunky_png-1.3.5.gem (100%)
Fetching: rb-fsevent-0.9.7.gem (100%)
Fetching: ffi-1.9.10.gem (100%)
Building native extensions. This could take a while...
Fetching: rb-inotify-0.9.7.gem (100%)
Fetching: compass-1.0.3.gem (100%)
Compass is charityware. If you love it, please donate on our behalf at http://umdf.org/compass Thanks!
Successfully installed sass-3.4.22
Successfully installed multi_json-1.11.3
Successfully installed compass-core-1.0.3
Successfully installed compass-import-once-1.0.5
Successfully installed chunky_png-1.3.5
Successfully installed rb-fsevent-0.9.7
Successfully installed ffi-1.9.10
Successfully installed rb-inotify-0.9.7
Successfully installed compass-1.0.3
9 gems installed
Installing ri documentation for sass-3.4.22...
Installing ri documentation for multi_json-1.11.3...
Installing ri documentation for compass-core-1.0.3...
Installing ri documentation for compass-import-once-1.0.5...
Installing ri documentation for chunky_png-1.3.5...
Installing ri documentation for rb-fsevent-0.9.7...
Installing ri documentation for ffi-1.9.10...
Installing ri documentation for rb-inotify-0.9.7...
Installing ri documentation for compass-1.0.3...
Installing RDoc documentation for sass-3.4.22...
Installing RDoc documentation for multi_json-1.11.3...
Installing RDoc documentation for compass-core-1.0.3...
Installing RDoc documentation for compass-import-once-1.0.5...
Installing RDoc documentation for chunky_png-1.3.5...
Installing RDoc documentation for rb-fsevent-0.9.7...
Installing RDoc documentation for ffi-1.9.10...
Installing RDoc documentation for rb-inotify-0.9.7...
Installing RDoc documentation for compass-1.0.3...
You can change GEM_HOME. You have also under your home directory a gem folder to check it use
$ gem env
result is as follows. Unrelated parts are omitted.
...
- GEM PATHS:
- /Users/xxx/.gem/ruby/2.6.0
- /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.6.0
- /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/lib/ruby/gems/2.6.0
...
You can use your /Users/xxx/.gem/ruby/2.6.0 folder.
vim ~/.bash_profile
add the following line
export GEM_HOME=~/.gem/ruby/2.6.0/
After that you can use
source ~/.bash_profile
The issue for me was that I switched from zshell to bash earlier and was not logged in:
/bin/bash --login
Although I had rvm installed, it was not able to switch to my newly rvm-installed ruby version and was still trying to use the default Mac-installed ruby binary. Hence my confusion (user error!!!) and the continued permissions issues...
ERROR: While executing gem ... (Gem::FilePermissionError) You don't have write permissions for the /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.6.0
[2022 Solution] The detailed reason for the issues has been added here
Summary of the issue -> The issue was related to ruby access, M1 MAC comes with its own ruby. We don't have permission to use that for our purpose. Instead, we install a separate instance of ruby and use it for our purpose.
The below steps helped me resolve the problem, hope this might help some
We don't need to install ruby with rvn or chruby. My solution uses homebrew to install ruby.
Open the terminal
Install ruby using homebrew
[for fresh install]
brew install ruby
[for reinstalling]
brew reinstall ruby
Check the path of ruby using the below command
which ruby
It should be installed in the below path
/usr/bin/ruby
To change the ruby path to the user path
To check which shell is used by your system
echo $0
-zsh
For zshrc
echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/ruby/bin:$PATH"' >>~/.zshrc
For bash
echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/ruby/bin:$PATH"' >>~/~/.bashrc
Quit and relaunch the terminal
After changing the path with step 5
Check for the path of the ruby again (execute step 3 - please make sure the path displays as given below)
/usr/local/opt/ruby/bin/ruby
[if you don't quit and launch the terminal, step 4 path will be shown]
Check the version of the pod installed
pod --version
In case the version installed is 1.11.0
gem uninstall cocoapods -v 1.11.0
Install the Cocoapods of the specific version
gem install cocoapods -v 1.11.0
Change the path to the Project directory cd {path of the project directory}
Install the bundler in the project directory
bundle install
pod install
cd /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0
open .
right click get info
click lock
place password
make everything read and write.
Installing gem or updating RubyGems fails with permissions error Then Type This Command
sudo gem install cocoapods
You can use: gem install cocoapods --pre --user
give the user $whoami to create somethin in those folder
sudo chown -R user /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.0.0
sudo chown -R $USER /Library/Ruby/Gems/