[[!meta title="How can I install Ruby gems in my locker?"]]
First, note that many Ruby gems are already installed on
scripts.mit.edu, and we’re generally pretty willing to install
generally-useful software globally; email us at scripts@mit.edu to
ask. This has the advantage that you won’t have to worry about
keeping the packages up to date; in some cases, using out-of-date
modules could lead to security vulnerabilities in your site.
Furthermore, a frequent practice in the Ruby community is to have
sets of Ruby packages associated with deployments, in which case
installing a gem in your locker might be too global.

In order to install a Ruby gem to your locker, you will first need
to create the directory to install into and give scripts.mit.edu
permission to it. From an Athena prompt, do the following, where
lockername is the name of your locker:

    add consult
    mkdir /mit/lockername/.gem
    mkdir /mit/lockername/.bundle
    fsr sa /mit/lockername/.gem daemon.scripts write
    fsr sa /mit/lockername/.bundle daemon.scripts write

To tell a bundler configured app to use this local Gem store, run
this command on a Scripts server, in the directory of your
application:

    bundle config path ~/.gem/ruby/1.8

Then, to install a gem, SSH into Scripts and run:

    gem install -l gemname