Problem installing ruby in linux virtual machine

Ruby
1

I’m running a linux virtual machine on my windows pc, and am trying to
install ruby. i’ve used apt-get, like so:

apt-­get install ruby ri rdoc mysql­server libmysql­ruby

now, ruby is there but not installed. ie

whereis ruby
=> ruby: /usr/bin/ruby /usr/lib/ruby /usr/share/man/man1/ruby.1.gz

but when i try to use ruby i get:

ruby hello_world.rb
=>The program ‘ruby’ is currently not installed. You can install it
by
typing:
apt-get install ruby

This happens even if i navigate to /usr/bin/ruby first. (btw if i do
“apt-get install ruby” i’m told it’s already installed).

I’ve tried adding the above folder to my path as follows:

in ~/.bashrc

export PATH=/usr/bin/ruby:.:$PATH

Can anyone see what i’ve done wrong? Could this be because it’s in a
virtual machine? (i don’t see why but i’m new to this stuff)

thanks
max

2

Max W. wrote:

but when i try to use ruby i get:
I’ve tried adding the above folder to my path as follows:

Did you try specifying the whole path to Ruby? In other words:

/usr/bin/ruby hello_world.rb

You might also try

which ruby

and see if that returns the right path.
I also believe you need to specify the path in .bashrc, not the file:

export PATH=/usr/bin/:$PATH

Although /usr/bin should bin in your path already. Can you run other
programs from there?
Is /usr/bin/ruby set to be executable?

-Justin

3

Justin C. wrote:

Although /usr/bin should bin in your path already. Can you run other
programs from there?
Is /usr/bin/ruby set to be executable?

-Justin

This helped me find the problem, thanks - it was that i’d switched users
to root and didn’t realise that root had it’s own version of .bashrc. I
think i might have made a mistake by installing ruby into one of my home
folders, but once i pointed root’s and the user’s .bashrc at the install
directory i was fine.

(new to linux, still finding my feet)
thanks
max