# Can't install gems with sudo

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cant-install-gems-with-sudo/68485>\
**Category:** Ruby\
**Created:** [September 13, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cant-install-gems-with-sudo/68485 "2006-09-13T02:42:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![phrogz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@phrogz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/phrogz)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cant-install-gems-with-sudo/68485/1 "2006-09-13T02:42:20Z")

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I just built ruby 1.8.5 myself, and now rubygems can’t find remote gems  
when I run it with sudo privs. It can find the gems when I run it as  
myself, but then it doesn’t have priviliges needed to install the gem.  
Did I miss something obvious?

[Sliver:~] gkistner$ which ruby  
/usr/local/bin/ruby  
[Sliver:~] gkistner$ which gem  
/usr/local/bin/gem  
[Sliver:~] gkistner$ ruby -v  
ruby 1.8.5 (2006-08-25) [powerpc-darwin8.7.0]  
[Sliver:~] gkistner$ gem -v  
0.9.0  
[Sliver:~] gkistner$ sudo gem install rake  
ERROR: While executing gem … (Gem::GemNotFoundException)  
Could not find rake (\> 0) in the repository  
[Sliver:~] gkistner$ gem install rake  
ERROR: While executing gem … (Errno::EACCES)  
Permission denied -  
/usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/cache/rake-0.7.1.gem

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![phrogz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@phrogz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/phrogz)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 3:14am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cant-install-gems-with-sudo/68485/2 "2006-09-13T03:14:23Z")

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On Sep 12, 2006, at 5:42 PM, Gavin K. wrote:

> ruby 1.8.5 (2006-08-25) [powerpc-darwin8.7.0]  
> [Sliver:~] gkistner$ gem -v  
> 0.9.0  
> [Sliver:~] gkistner$ sudo gem install rake  
> ERROR: While executing gem … (Gem::GemNotFoundException)  
> Could not find rake (\> 0) in the repository  
> [Sliver:~] gkistner$ gem install rake  
> ERROR: While executing gem … (Errno::EACCES)  
> Permission denied - /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/cache/  
> rake-0.7.1.gem

OK, I get:

which ruby  
/usr/local/bin/ruby  
~ $ which gem  
/usr/local/bin/gem  
~ $ ruby -v  
ruby 1.8.5 (2006-09-10) [powerpc-darwin8.7.0]  
~ $ gem -v  
0.9.0  
~ $ sudo gem install rake  
Successfully installed rake-0.7.1  
Installing ri documentation for rake-0.7.1…  
Installing RDoc documentation for rake-0.7.1…  
~ $

You didn’t miss anything obvious. I’m afraid that your problem is  
subtle.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![phrogz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@phrogz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/phrogz)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 3:20am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cant-install-gems-with-sudo/68485/3 "2006-09-13T03:20:23Z")

</div>

Gavin K. wrote:

> I just built ruby 1.8.5 myself, and now rubygems can’t find remote gems  
> when I run it with sudo privs. It can find the gems when I run it as  
> myself, but then it doesn’t have priviliges needed to install the gem. Did  
> I miss something obvious?

/ …

> [Sliver:~] gkistner$ sudo gem install rake  
> ERROR: While executing gem … (Gem::GemNotFoundException)  
> Could not find rake (\> 0) in the repository  
> [Sliver:~] gkistner$ gem install rake  
> ERROR: While executing gem … (Errno::EACCES)  
> Permission denied - /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/cache/rake-0.7.1.gem

Looks like sudo might be giving you a dodgy path. Try this:

$ echo $PATH  
$ sudo echo $PATH

Are they different?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![phrogz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@phrogz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/phrogz)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 6:26am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cant-install-gems-with-sudo/68485/4 "2006-09-13T06:26:13Z")

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Paul L. wrote:

> Looks like sudo might be giving you a dodgy path. Try this:
> 
> $ echo $PATH  
> $ sudo echo $PATH
> 
> Are they different?

Nope, identical path values.

Eric H. wrote:

> Your source cache may be corrupt.
> 
> Try:  
> rm /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/source\_cache

Bingo, that was it! Thanks so much.  
(Needed to “sudo rm …” that file, of course - I include the  
information here only for posterity.)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![phrogz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@phrogz](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/phrogz)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 4:28am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cant-install-gems-with-sudo/68485/5 "2006-09-13T04:28:33Z")

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On Sep 12, 2006, at 5:42 PM, Gavin K. wrote:

> ruby 1.8.5 (2006-08-25) [powerpc-darwin8.7.0]  
> [Sliver:~] gkistner$ gem -v  
> 0.9.0  
> [Sliver:~] gkistner$ sudo gem install rake  
> ERROR: While executing gem … (Gem::GemNotFoundException)  
> Could not find rake (\> 0) in the repository  
> [Sliver:~] gkistner$ gem install rake  
> ERROR: While executing gem … (Errno::EACCES)  
> Permission denied - /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/cache/  
> rake-0.7.1.gem

Your source cache may be corrupt.

Try:

rm /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/source\_cache

(You also have one in ~/.gem/source\_cache)

–  
Eric H. - removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid - [http://blog.segment7.net](http://blog.segment7.net)  
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