# Can Rails work without database?

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/can-rails-work-without-database/147995>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [September 8, 2008, 5:21am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/can-rails-work-without-database/147995 "2008-09-08T05:21:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![youhaodeyi](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/y/b9bd4f/32.png) [@youhaodeyi](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/youhaodeyi)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 5:21am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/can-rails-work-without-database/147995/1 "2008-09-08T05:21:51Z")

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I’ve gone through some tutorials and found that every example they made  
defines a Database. I wander can Rails work without database.

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**Author:** ![youhaodeyi](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/y/b9bd4f/32.png) [@youhaodeyi](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/youhaodeyi)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 9:25am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/can-rails-work-without-database/147995/2 "2008-09-08T09:25:34Z")

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On Sep 8, 4:21 am, Zhao Yi [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote:

> I’ve gone through some tutorials and found that every example they made  
> defines a Database. I wander can Rails work without database.

Yes it can. It’s very common for rails apps to use a database but I’ve  
written apps that don’t.

Fred

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**Author:** ![youhaodeyi](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/y/b9bd4f/32.png) [@youhaodeyi](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/youhaodeyi)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 10:05am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/can-rails-work-without-database/147995/3 "2008-09-08T10:05:20Z")

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Zhao Yi wrote:

> I’ve gone through some tutorials and found that every example they made  
> defines a Database. I wander can Rails work without database.

Sure it can. Check this out:

> **[NoDatabase.pdf](https://media.pragprog.com/titles/fr_rr/NoDatabase.pdf)**
>
> 95.57 KB

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**Author:** ![youhaodeyi](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/y/b9bd4f/32.png) [@youhaodeyi](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/youhaodeyi)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 10:17am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/can-rails-work-without-database/147995/4 "2008-09-08T10:17:15Z")

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On Sep 8, 9:05 am, Jakov M. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)  
wrote:

> Zhao Yi wrote:
> 
> > I’ve gone through some tutorials and found that every example they made  
> > defines a Database. I wander can Rails work without database.
> 
> Sure it can. Check this out:[http://media.pragprog.com/titles/fr\_rr/NoDatabase.pdf](http://media.pragprog.com/titles/fr_rr/NoDatabase.pdf)

It’s actually easier than that now - you just need to say you don’t  
want activerecord loaded (in environment.rb) and comment out  
initializers (in config/environment.rb) that set settings on  
activerecord.

Fred

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**Author:** ![youhaodeyi](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/y/b9bd4f/32.png) [@youhaodeyi](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/youhaodeyi)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 10:16am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/can-rails-work-without-database/147995/5 "2008-09-08T10:16:03Z")

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On 08 Sep 2008, at 10:05, Jakov M. wrote:

> > I’ve gone through some tutorials and found that every example they  
> > made  
> > defines a Database. I wander can Rails work without database.
> 
> Sure it can. Check this out:  
> [http://media.pragprog.com/titles/fr\_rr/NoDatabase.pdf](http://media.pragprog.com/titles/fr_rr/NoDatabase.pdf)

or  
[http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins/activerecord\_base\_without\_table](http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins/activerecord_base_without_table)