Rails server on linux

Rails
1

Hi,

I am trying to decide which Linux OS to use to implement rails server.
I don’t know if Debian is better or CentOS is better. Which one is
easier to install, update and maintain rails server?

Also, which rails application server do you recommend besides
passenger with apache 2?

Thanks!

2

kitty00 wrote:

Hi,

I am trying to decide which Linux OS to use to implement rails server.
I don’t know if Debian is better or CentOS is better. Which one is
easier to install, update and maintain rails server?

I’d recommend Ubuntu. Everything just works.

Also, which rails application server do you recommend besides
passenger with apache 2?

Passenger is a great choice. I’ve heard good things about JRuby with
the Glassfish gem, but I use Passenger and Ruby EE myself.

Thanks!

Best,

Marnen Laibow-Koser
http://www.marnen.org
[email protected]

3

I’ve had no issues with Ubuntu 8.04 LTS.
That’s running Rails 2.1.0, ruby 1.8.6, nginx, mongrel_cluster, and
MySQL.

And Ubuntu 9.04 is running fine at home as well with Rails 2.3.2, ruby
1.8.6, nginx, mongrel_cluster, MySQL.

4

Ar Chron wrote:

I’ve had no issues with Ubuntu 8.04 LTS.
That’s running Rails 2.1.0, ruby 1.8.6, nginx, mongrel_cluster, and
MySQL.

And Ubuntu 9.04 is running fine at home as well with Rails 2.3.2, ruby
1.8.6, nginx, mongrel_cluster, MySQL.

I’ve never used Nginx (well, except on a client’s box where I didn’t
really have to touch that part), partly because last time I tried to
read the docs, they were mostly по-русский, and my Russian just isn’t
that good. Also, I usually seem to need Apache anyway for other things
on the same box.

What’s the advantage of Nginx? Less resource-heavy?

Best,

Marnen Laibow-Koser
http://www.marnen.org
[email protected]

5

On Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 3:41 PM, kitty00 [email protected] wrote:

I don’t know if Debian is better or CentOS is better.

99% of the software you find inside will be the same. Every Linux
distro uses the same glibc, same gcc, same Linux kernel, only
difference being the packages are slightly different versions based on
when the distro was published.

The big difference in Linux distros is the package management. Your
two main options are rpm or dpkg. I prefer dpkg.

Also, which rails application server do you recommend besides
passenger with apache 2?

Nginx + mongrel cluster works pretty well for me.

–
Greg D.
http://destiney.com/

6

Have running on Ubuntu 9.04, Rails 2.3.3, ruby 1.9.1p243. Only problem
is
I cannot get mongrel web server to run on 1.9.1p243.

Also running on Debian, with ruby 1.8.6 Rails 2.3.4

Cheers

7

kitty00 wrote:

Hi,

I am trying to decide which Linux OS to use to implement rails server.
I don’t know if Debian is better or CentOS is better. Which one is
easier to install, update and maintain rails server?

Also, which rails application server do you recommend besides
passenger with apache 2?

I pretty much agree with the others, for easy of use go with Ubuntu. I
am using
x86_64 Kubuntu 9.04 which is a KDE version of Ubuntu, the package
manager makes
installation a breeze.

Thanks!
–
Kind Regards,
Rajinder Y.

http://DevMentor.org
Do Good ~ Share Freely

8

Thank you for the suggestion!
I do prefer Debian as a server.

9

Thank you for the clarification!

10

I’ve had some problems with Debian and Ubuntu in what comes to the
version of the rubygems package. Usually it’s outdated and if you need
too new gems versions you will have problems.
Install rubygems manually, always, period.

I think Apache + Passenger is the best choice.
Nginx + Passenger. Nothing beats it, unless you have some specific
module requirement.

I use Debian on my server. I’ve had a major issue with the Ruby version
in Etch which was too old, now I’m on Lenny, and everything is fine.

11

On Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 10:41 PM, kitty00 [email protected] wrote:

Hi,

I am trying to decide which Linux OS to use to implement rails server.
I don’t know if Debian is better or CentOS is better. Which one is
easier to install, update and maintain rails server?

I’ve had some problems with Debian and Ubuntu in what comes to the
version of the rubygems package. Usually it’s outdated and if you need
too new gems versions you will have problems.
My recommendation is alwasy Debian for a server (Even when I use Arch
Linux on all my workstations). But I strongly suggest you to only
install rubygems from Debian’s package repository and then manage your
gems with the “gem” command, since rubygems are distribution
independant, you shouldn’t base your installation on another package
management that the gem itself.

Also, which rails application server do you recommend besides
passenger with apache 2?
I think Apache + Passenger is the best choice. Easy to set up and
maintain, besides nobody can argue apache’s history on stability and
performance.

Hope it helps

–
Leonardo M…
There’s no place like ~

12

Fernando P. wrote:

I’ve had some problems with Debian and Ubuntu in what comes to the
version of the rubygems package. Usually it’s outdated and if you need
too new gems versions you will have problems.
Install rubygems manually, always, period.

I don’t seem to recall any problems on Ubuntu with installing rubygems
itself from the package manager. (Of course, then I use rubygems, not
the package manager, to install specific gems.)

I think Apache + Passenger is the best choice.
Nginx + Passenger. Nothing beats it, unless you have some specific
module requirement.

I’ll try that sometime. For the second time in this thread, though: why
is Nginx better? Just speed? Resource usage? Maintainability?
Something else?

I use Debian on my server. I’ve had a major issue with the Ruby version
in Etch which was too old, now I’m on Lenny, and everything is fine.

Best,

Marnen Laibow-Koser
http://www.marnen.org
[email protected]

13

Greg D. wrote:

On Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 2:50 PM, Marnen Laibow-Koser
[email protected] wrote:

I’ll try that sometime. �For the second time in this thread, though: why
is Nginx better? �Just speed?

It’s the fastest I’ve ever used.

Resource usage?

It uses the least memory of anything I’ve tried

Maintainability?

The configuration syntax is very terse, especially compared to Apache.

Something else?

All the cool kids are using it.

Definitely worth a look then. I’m about to set up a new dev server, so
I think I’ll give it a try.

–
Greg D.
http://destiney.com/

Best,

Marnen Laibow-Koser
http://www.marnen.org
[email protected]

14

Thanks!
I will give it a try!

15

On Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 2:50 PM, Marnen Laibow-Koser
[email protected] wrote:

I’ll try that sometime. For the second time in this thread, though: why
is Nginx better? Just speed?

It’s the fastest I’ve ever used.

Resource usage?

It uses the least memory of anything I’ve tried

Maintainability?

The configuration syntax is very terse, especially compared to Apache.

Something else?

All the cool kids are using it.

–
Greg D.
http://destiney.com/