# "gem update --system" breaks under a non-standard prefix **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [March 15, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-update-system-breaks-under-a-non-standard-prefix/88968 "2007-03-15T23:50:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jeremyheiler](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/34f0e0/32.png) [@jeremyheiler](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jeremyheiler)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-update-system-breaks-under-a-non-standard-prefix/88968/1 "2007-03-15T23:50:54Z")
It appears that if you install rubygems under a non-standard prefix then “gem update --system” breaks. I have rubygems installed as a non-privileged user. Everything works fine with GEM\_HOME and RUBYLIB set properly in the environment. But, when I try to upgrade rubygems from 0.9.1 -\> 0.9.2 , “gem update –system” fails. […] setup.rb:515:in `initialize’: Permission denied - /usr/bin/gem (Errno::EACCES) Running “update\_rubygems” manually doesn’t fair any better. $ update\_rubygems Error: Cannot find RubyGems Update Path! RubyGems has already been updated. The rubygems-update gem may now be uninstalled. E.g. gem uninstall rubygems-update Eventually I found a successful workaround… cd $GEM\_HOME/gems/rubygems-update-\*/ && ruby setup.rb all --prefix=$GEM\_PREFIX …where $GEM\_PREFIX is the prefix I installed rubygems to. I’m glad that it worked, but surely it should be easier than this? It would be nice if “gem update --system” accepted --prefix=$GEM\_PREFIX , but as far as I can tell it does not. Regards, Jeremy H. ---
**Author:** ![jeremyheiler](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/34f0e0/32.png) [@jeremyheiler](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jeremyheiler)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 2:27am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-update-system-breaks-under-a-non-standard-prefix/88968/2 "2007-03-18T02:27:27Z")
On Mar 15, 2007, at 15:50, Jeremy H. wrote: > It appears that if you install rubygems under a non-standard prefix > then “gem update --system” breaks. > > [… bug report …] Did you file a bug in the tracker? I guarantee your bug report will get lost if you don’t. ---
**Author:** ![jeremyheiler](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/34f0e0/32.png) [@jeremyheiler](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jeremyheiler)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 12:46pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-update-system-breaks-under-a-non-standard-prefix/88968/3 "2007-03-18T12:46:05Z")
On 2007-03-18, Eric H. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > On Mar 15, 2007, at 15:50, Jeremy H. wrote: > > > It appears that if you install rubygems under a non-standard prefix > > then “gem update --system” breaks. > > > > [… bug report …] > > Did you file a bug in the tracker? Would that be the tracker that is conspicuously _not_ linked to anywhere on the front page of the RubyGems web site, thereby encouraging visitors to conclude it does not exist? ☹ OK, it’s done. (And also a bug about the web site not linking to the tracker.) Regards, Jeremy H. ---
**Author:** ![jeremyheiler](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/34f0e0/32.png) [@jeremyheiler](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jeremyheiler)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 1:05pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-update-system-breaks-under-a-non-standard-prefix/88968/4 "2007-03-18T13:05:07Z")
On Sunday 18 March 2007, Jeremy H. wrote: > anywhere on the front page of the RubyGems web site, thereby > encouraging visitors to conclude it does not exist? ☹ > > OK, it’s done. (And also a bug about the web site not linking to the > tracker.) > It’s better to check if the problem has already been reported before … [http://rubyforge.org/tracker/?func=detail&aid=8470&group\_id=126&atid=575](http://rubyforge.org/tracker/?func=detail&aid=8470&group_id=126&atid=575) ---
**Author:** ![jeremyheiler](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/34f0e0/32.png) [@jeremyheiler](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jeremyheiler)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-update-system-breaks-under-a-non-standard-prefix/88968/5 "2007-03-18T13:40:16Z")
On 2007-03-18, Sylvain J. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > It’s better to check if the problem has already been reported before … > > [http://rubyforge.org/tracker/?func=detail&aid=8470&group\_id=126&atid=575](http://rubyforge.org/tracker/?func=detail&aid=8470&group_id=126&atid=575) D’oh! I’ve added a note to my submission pointing out that it’s a duplicate of yours. Thanks for catching that. Regards, Jeremy H. ---
**Author:** ![jeremyheiler](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/34f0e0/32.png) [@jeremyheiler](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/jeremyheiler)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-update-system-breaks-under-a-non-standard-prefix/88968/6 "2007-03-20T01:45:31Z")
On Mar 18, 2007, at 04:45, Jeremy H. wrote: > Would that be the tracker that is conspicuously _not_ linked to > anywhere on the front page of the RubyGems web site, thereby > encouraging visitors to conclude it does not exist? ☹ ☹ > OK, it’s done. (And also a bug about the web site not linking to the > tracker.) Awesome, thanks.