# How to tell Terminal which version of Ruby to use? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [September 14, 2010, 10:16am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-to-tell-terminal-which-version-of-ruby-to-use/194956 "2010-09-14T10:16:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![shrapnel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@shrapnel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/shrapnel)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 10:16am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-to-tell-terminal-which-version-of-ruby-to-use/194956/1 "2010-09-14T10:16:04Z")
Hello, I have two entry level questions that I was hoping someone could help out with. 1. I recently installed Ruby 1.9.2 on my Mac (running Snow Leopard 10.6.4) and I haven’t been able to figure out how to get Terminal to use the new Ruby as a default, rather than the factory-installed Ruby 1.8.7. The old Ruby 1.8.7 is located in my ~/usr/bin/ruby directory while the new Ruby 1.9.2 is in ~/usr/local/bin/ruby. Someone said that I need to put the new version of Ruby’s directory in the PATH prior to the old version’s directory so that the system looks there first - is this correct? If so, can anyone provide step by step instructions on how to do this? [Side Note: I actually somehow got it to work when I first installed 1.9.2, but I have networked computers and a wireless Apple Time Machine backing up both machines that is somehow communicating shell settings via the backup mechanism, from my un-upgraded MacBook back to the iMac that has the new 1.9.2 installed. Somehow the PATH settings from the MacBook seems to be overriding what’s on the iMac. I’ve noticed the same thing happens with my TextMate preferences - the style preferences on the laptop get transferred to the one on the iMac in realtime somehow. After I figure out how to fix this, I’m going to change the shell settings on both machines to try and prevent this. Just curious if others have encountered this issue.] 1. I’ve created a new directory but can’t seem to figure out the correct way to add that directory to my PATH using the Terminal bash shell. I tried using the instructions that I found here ([http://www.macgasm.net/2008/04/10/ad...thin-terminal/](http://www.macgasm.net/2008/04/10/ad...thin-terminal/)) twice but they didn’t work for me. The directory containing my program (“Ruby\_Programs”) shows up in the PATH but when I try to run “ruby newprogram.rb” from the command line it results in “:ruby: No such file or directory – newprogram.rb (LoadError)”. The file definitely exists and is a functional Ruby program. I did change the name of the directory to “Ruby P.s” and then back to “Ruby\_Programs” - could that have somehow caused this problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here is my current PATH: $ echo $PATH /usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/Users/sbrriffe/src:/usr/X11/bin:/Users/sbriffe/Ruby\_Programs/: 1. I can’t get the shebang line to work in any of my Ruby programs. Is there a specific permission that needs to be set on Mac files to get the shebang line to work? It points to the right directory that contains the Ruby interpreter and it’s supposed to be a fairly simple line of code, but I’m never able to run Ruby programs in the shell without the “ruby” preface in the command line. Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![shrapnel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@shrapnel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/shrapnel)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 10:19am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-to-tell-terminal-which-version-of-ruby-to-use/194956/2 "2010-09-14T10:19:16Z")
CORRECTION: Here is the working link that I posted: > **[Adding a New Location to Your $PATH Variable within Terminal](https://www.macgasm.net/news/tips/adding-a-new-location-to-your-path-variable-within-terminal/)** > > With Mac OS X being based on BSD Unix and being UNIX 03 Compliant you have many of the same features of Linux. One of... ---
**Author:** ![shrapnel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@shrapnel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/shrapnel)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 10:37am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-to-tell-terminal-which-version-of-ruby-to-use/194956/3 "2010-09-14T10:37:59Z")
I suffered from similar problems in the past. Now I’m a big fan of the tool rvm. It helps you to install and switch between your rubies. Im unsure weather it works on mac, but you can give it a try: [http://rvm.beginrescueend.com](http://rvm.beginrescueend.com) ---
**Author:** ![shrapnel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@shrapnel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/shrapnel)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 10:44am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-to-tell-terminal-which-version-of-ruby-to-use/194956/4 "2010-09-14T10:44:26Z")
You can try rvm ([http://rvm.beginrescueend.com/](http://rvm.beginrescueend.com/)) to manage your ruby installations. On 14 September 2010 11:19, Sam R. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > CORRECTION: Here is the working link that I posted: > > ## [http://www.macgasm.net/2008/04/10/adding-a-new-location-to-your-path-variable-within-terminal/](http://www.macgasm.net/2008/04/10/adding-a-new-location-to-your-path-variable-within-terminal/) > > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/](http://www.ruby-forum.com/). – Cheers, Konstantinos ---
**Author:** ![shrapnel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@shrapnel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/shrapnel)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-to-tell-terminal-which-version-of-ruby-to-use/194956/5 "2010-09-15T17:50:37Z")
Hi, bash will look for files in the PATH but in the same order as in PATH. Hence if you have two files/programs called the same in two different directories included in the PATH, bash will give you the first one. That may explain some of the problems. The shebang only works if your file is set as an executable. To fix that you can use: chmod 755 Finally I don’t think you need to have the final colon in your PATH… though I don’t know if that has any effect. How that helps Diego