If you plan on doing any sort of Ruby development, RVM is a must. Even though Debian does have its own Ruby packages, they’re bound to Debian’s release schedules, making them an inflexible option for your projects. RVM is simple to get set up, and it allows a much greater decree of flexibility, no matter what sort of projects you’re working on.
In this tutorial you will learn:
- How to Install cURL
- How to Import the RVM GPG Key
- How to Run The RVM Install
- How to Install Ruby
Software Requirements and Conventions Used
Category | Requirements, Conventions or Software Version Used |
---|---|
System | Debian 10 Buster |
Software | RVM, Ruby |
Other | Privileged access to your Linux system as root or via the sudo command. |
Conventions |
# – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command$ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user |
Install cURL
The standard RVM install procedure relies in cURL, so install it, if you don’t already have it on your system.
$ sudo apt install curl
Import the RVM GPG Key
Next, import the RVM GPG signing key. This will ensure that the Ruby packages you get from RVM are genuine.
$ gpg2 --recv-keys 409B6B1796C275462A1703113804BB82D39DC0E3 7D2BAF1CF37B13E2069D6956105BD0E739499BDB
How to Run The RVM Install
Now, pull in the RVM install script, and hand it off to Bash to run. This will automatically set up RVM for your user.
$ \curl -sSL https://get.rvm.io | bash -s stable
Install Ruby
You can now start installing Ruby version. RVM can list out what’s available for you.
$ rvm list known
Pick a version to install, and use RVM to get it.
$ rvm install 2.6
It will take a bit of time, since RVM needs to pull the required dependencies and build Ruby for you.
When it’s finished, tell RVM to use your new Ruby install by default.
$ rvm use 2.6 --default
You can see which version of Ruby you’re using to make sure that it worked.
$ ruby -v
Conclusion
You’re ready to start developing with Ruby. RVM can keep itself updated, and you can always pull new Ruby versions as soon as they arrive.