How do I fix the "You don't have write permissions into the /usr/bin directory" error when installing Rails?

Question

I'm trying to install Rails 3 on a brand new MacBook Pro running OS X 10.6.3, Ruby 1.8.7, and Rails 2.3.5 and I'm wondering if I've hosed myself. So far, I've run these commands:

$ gem update --system
$ gem install arel tzinfo builder memcache-client rack rack-test rack-mount erubis mail text-format thor bundler i18n
$ gem install rails --pre

However, when I run the last command, I get this error:

ERROR:  While executing gem ... (Gem::FilePermissionError)
    You don't have write permissions into the /usr/bin directory.

I think it wants me to run the command with sudo so that it can write over /usr/bin/rails. But if I do that, won't I be overwriting my Rails 2.3.5 executable? I don't want to do that. Instead, I'd like to keep both versions of Rails. How do I do that?

I was getting same error on first command, use this command `sudo gem update --system -n /usr/local/bin` — nitish005, May 03 '18 at 07:00
Just going to put it out here that simply restarting the terminal solved this for me. — rosalynnas, Jun 24 '20 at 20:18

score 645 · Answer 1 · edited Jan 25 '16 at 10:00

645

use -n parameter to install like for cocoapods:

sudo gem install cocoapods -n /usr/local/bin

edited Jan 25 '16 at 10:00

Tunaki

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answered Jan 25 '16 at 09:59

Pradeep Kachhawaha

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Why would we even need this? – nenchev Oct 31 '17 at 18:54
40

Fails on MacOS unless you specify -n /usr/local/bin. Thanks for the solution – Sacky San Dec 12 '17 at 23:22
6

What does -n means? – allenlinli Apr 03 '18 at 03:20
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according to http://guides.rubygems.org/command-reference/#gem-install, -n specifies the directory where binaries are located. I also needed `-n /usr/local/bin` on my Mac. I ran `which pod` to determine its existing location before using the -n option which was indeed /usr/local/bin – mwu Apr 03 '18 at 18:07
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I'm sure RVM is great, but this is a better answer that directly addresses the immediate problem without sending me down a rabbit hole. – Wayne Aug 15 '18 at 15:13
thanks so much this works, but do we have to write -n /usr/local/bin for every gem installation?? – Kimmiekim Jan 01 '19 at 01:44
Can't agree with you more. I suggest we always remember the option `-n /usr/local/bin` because `/usr/bin` belongs to the system, instead of to the end user. – DawnSong Sep 27 '19 at 08:03

Francois Nadeau · Answer 2 · 2019-05-08T13:09:01.277

113

Using the -n /usr/local/bin flag does work, BUT I had to come back to this page every time I wanted to update a package again. So I figured out a permanent fix for this.

For those interested in fixing this permanently:

Create a ~/.gemrc file

vim .gemrc

With the following content:

:gemdir:
   - ~/.gem/ruby
install: -n /usr/local/bin

Now you can run your command normally without the -n flag.

Enjoy!

edited May 08 '19 at 13:09

answered Sep 06 '18 at 02:49

Francois Nadeau

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`vim .gemrc` how to write this cmd – Chandni Jan 07 '19 at 08:07
I am not sure this will work in Window$, but I guess you could use Notepad. – Francois Nadeau Jan 07 '19 at 14:06
Thank you, just like you I was tired of looking for this suffix everytime I needed to make an update! – Paul-Etienne Jul 28 '20 at 14:14

score 96 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 19 '18 at 07:41

96

sudo gem install cocoapods --pre -n /usr/local/bin

This works for me.

edited Jun 19 '18 at 07:41

Erik A

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answered Jun 19 '18 at 02:41

tong Xu

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I had this issue and this answer worked for me! I replaced `cocoapods` with the dependency that I needed – chris Apr 14 '20 at 16:48
Worked for me also with macOS Big Sur 11.6.1 – Coder ACJHP Feb 22 '22 at 09:43

score 39 · Answer 4 · edited May 10 '18 at 00:26

39

You can use sudo gem install -n /usr/local/bin cocoapods

This works for me.

edited May 10 '18 at 00:26

iWheelBuy

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answered Dec 09 '17 at 20:00

Damini

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Tarellel · Accepted Answer · 2021-02-09T17:43:21.903

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I'd suggest using RVM it allows you have multiple versions of Ruby/Rails installed with gem profiles and basically keep all your gems contained from one another. You may want to check out a similar post How can I install Ruby on Rails 3 on OSX

edited Feb 09 '21 at 17:43

answered May 27 '10 at 09:52

Tarellel

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only doing that solved for me a similar problem with the same error message – Rich Steinmetz Oct 26 '18 at 18:59
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It seems RVM project (or link at least) is outdated – Akim Kelar Feb 03 '21 at 09:37

score 8 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 11 '19 at 02:36

8

On macOS High Sierra, this solved my issue:

sudo gem update --system -n /usr/local/bin/gem

answered Oct 11 '19 at 02:36

Subhan

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Worked for me with `/usr/local/bin` (without `/gem`) – patric.schenke Feb 11 '21 at 13:07

score 7 · Answer 7 · answered May 27 '10 at 10:38

7

To fix your specific error you need to run that command as sudo, ie:

sudo gem install rails --pre

answered May 27 '10 at 10:38

Andrew Nesbitt

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NO. Use rvm or rbenv ...do not just sudo. – doublejosh Oct 09 '17 at 23:50

score 6 · Answer 8 · answered Dec 22 '15 at 19:41

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This Error hit me after installing RVM correctly. Solution: re-boot Terminal.

Reference RailsCast's RVM Install tutorial.

answered Dec 22 '15 at 19:41

Akorn

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Not exactly 7 years later, but this works also if you're working on windows bash subsystem. Just exit the bash and launch it again. Thank you. – Pedro Madrid Feb 05 '18 at 15:39

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Jun 11 '18 at 18:30

For me, something different worked, that I found in on this answer from a similar question. Probably won't help OP, but maybe someone like me that had a similar problem.

You should indeed use rvm, but as no one explained to you how to do this without rvm, here you go:

sudo gem install tzinfo builder memcache-client rack rack-test rack-mount \
  abstract erubis activesupport mime-types mail text-hyphen text-format   \
  thor i18n rake bundler arel railties rails --prerelease --force

score 1 · Answer 10 · answered Jul 25 '21 at 10:09

Problem: Performing some operations such as bundle installation / npm install on docker container prompts a lack of permissions error and preventing us accomplish applicative tasks. By default docker containers are "unprivileged" and not allow to accomplish out of scope administrator capabilities.

ERROR:  While executing gem ... (Gem::FilePermissionError)
    You don't have write permissions for the /usr/local/bundle directory.

Solution: Use --previliged flag to enable all devices and allow the container nearly all the same access to the host as processes running outside containers on the host. Pay attention this might be a security issue under some circumstances and recommended only on test/staging/development environments.

By default, Docker containers are “unprivileged” and cannot, for example, run a Docker daemon inside a Docker container. This is because by default a container is not allowed to access any devices, but a “privileged” container is given access to all devices (see the documentation on cgroups devices).

When the operator executes docker run --privileged, Docker will enable access to all devices on the host as well as set some configuration in AppArmor or SELinux to allow the container nearly all the same access to the host as processes running outside containers on the host. Additional information about running with --privileged is available on the Docker Blog.

For additional reading about Runtime privilege and Linux capabilities read this Documentation.

score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Nov 19 '22 at 14:26

Following the instructions in this answer helped me:

https://stackoverflow.com/a/72094586/755451

Essentially I think its down to the mentioned steps:

Step 2 Add the following lines to your .zshrc file

export PATH="$HOME/.rbenv/bin:$PATH" eval "$(rbenv init - zsh)" Step 3

brew update && brew upgrade ruby-build

How do I fix the "You don't have write permissions into the /usr/bin directory" error when installing Rails?

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