How do I install specific versions of Ruby and Rails on Bluehost?

Question

I logged into my Bluehost server through SSH and I want to install Ruby v1.9.3 and Rails v3.2.13. The default version of Ruby seems to be 1.8.7 and Rails is 2.3.11.

I tried to upgrade Rails using:

gem install rails -v 3.2.13 --no-rdoc --no-ri

I get the following output:

Successfully installed rails-3.2.13
1 gem installed

I then tried running a check that it was installed:

rails -v

I get the following output:

Rails 2.3.11

These are my bash_profile and bashrc files in the root folder:

bash_profile:

# .bash_profile

# Get the aliases and functions
if [ -f ~/.bashrc ]; then
        . ~/.bashrc
fi

# User specific environment and startup programs



export PATH=$HOME/bin:$HOME/.gems/bin:$PATH
export GEM_HOME="$HOME/.gems"
export GEM_PATH="$HOME/.gems:/usr/lib64/ruby/gems/1.8"

unset USERNAME

[[ -s "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" ]] && source "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" # Load RVM into a shell session *as a function*

bashrc:

# .bashrc

# User specific aliases and functions
alias mv='mv -i'
alias rm='rm -i'
alias cp='cp -i'

export HPATH=$HOME
export GEM_HOME=$HPATH/ruby/gems
export GEM_PATH=$GEM_HOME:/usr/lib64/ruby/gems/1.8
export GEM_CACHE=$GEM_HOME/cache
export PATH=$PATH:$HPATH/ruby/gems/bin
export PATH=$PATH:$HPATH/ruby/gems

# Source global definitions
if [ -f /etc/bashrc ]; then
        . /etc/bashrc
fi

PATH=$PATH:$HOME/.rvm/bin # Add RVM to PATH for scripting

Why does it not get upgraded? Additionally, what command should I be using within bluehost SSH session to upgrade Ruby?

Answer 1

Put into .bash_profile (which is in your root directory) next lines:

export PATH=$HOME/bin:$HOME/.gems/bin:$PATH
export GEM_HOME="$HOME/.gems"
export GEM_PATH="$HOME/.gems:/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8"

Reconnect to your account and try to install rails again.

Update

I have an account on Bluehost and I run Ruby 1.8.7 + Ruby on Rails 3.2.13. Some files into root directory:

.bashrc

# User specific aliases and functions
# Source global definitions
if [ -f /etc/bashrc ]; then
  . /etc/bashrc
fi

.bash_profile

# Get the aliases and functions
if [ -f ~/.bashrc ]; then
    . ~/.bashrc
fi
# User specific environment and startup programs
export PATH=$HOME/bin:$HOME/.gems/bin:$PATH

unset USERNAME

export GEM_HOME="$HOME/.gems"
export GEM_PATH="$HOME/.gems:/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8"

.gemrc

gemhome: /home2/myserv/.gems
gempath:
- /home2/myserv/.gems
- /usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8
gem: --no-ri --no-rdoc

where instead of /home2/myserv you should provide system path from root to your home directory.

Answer 2

I recommend to you a deploy using rvm and phussion passenger (pp). In normal approach, without pp, you will have to provide a path for each ruby bins inside an .htaccess. Doable? Yes, but will have to handle the rvm path at .bashrc...

Much better approach with PP can pull ruby for you... In combo with rvm, you can have as many ruby-rails versions as you have gemsets. Check instructions here. Check rvm for gemsets info. Be carefull, as vps shares / folder inside Bluehost, install rvm at .rvm, not at /usr/local/rvm/, otherwise you may find permission troubles.

But that is not enough to deploy at Bluehost, since your server is running WHM, that means you can not easily change your httpd.conf file. So, if you followed all the instructions and Apache is not showing your rails app, you are 2 steps close.

First, open whm at www.yoursite.com:2087. Go to Service Configuration / Apache Configuration / Include Editor / and under Pre Main Include, write:

Include /etc/httpd/conf.d/passenger.conf

Apache will restart if doc is there and the module is calling too.

Second, open your /usr/local/apache/conf/httpd.conf file and do not touch it. Go to your VirtualHost and read the instructions. Those will say something like:

# To customize this VirtualHost use an include file at the following location
# Include "/usr/local/apache/conf/userdata/std/2/yourusername/your.site.com/*.conf"

You have to create the folders and the file in that very precise location. Do it is as write directly on your httpd.conf file. You have to use the very same lines you wrote following the pp instructions but trimming them. As example:

<VirtualHost *:80> // NO NEEDED
ServerName yourserver.com // NO NEEDED

# Tell Apache and Passenger where your app's 'public' directory is
DocumentRoot /var/www/myapp/code/public

PassengerRuby /path-to-ruby

# Relax Apache security settings
<Directory /var/www/myapp/code/public>
  Allow from all
  Options -MultiViews
  # Uncomment this if you're on Apache >= 2.4:
  #Require all granted
</Directory>
</VirtualHost> // NO NEEDED

Again, you no need VirtualHost or ServerName because the located file is like writing inside your VirtualHost inside httpd.conf.

Finally, when working with rvm and gemsets is a sabby practice to write couple of files inside your app at root folder, same level as Gemfile. You need:

At .ruby-version write:
2.2.2 // just the numbers of your version

And at .ruby-gemset write:
my_gemset_name

That will ensure the correct ruby bins are called automatically whenever your app is running.