# Using local gems **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [October 2, 2007, 11:53am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-local-gems/116098 "2007-10-02T11:53:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/919ad9/32.png) [@edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/edhel)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 11:53am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-local-gems/116098/1 "2007-10-02T11:53:27Z")
Hello, I have successfully installed some local gems on my rails host. I checked that through irb: irb(main):002:0\> require ‘rubygems’ =\> true irb(main):003:0\> require\_gem ‘mylocalgem’ =\> true irb(main):003:0\> a = MyLocalGem::MyClass.new =\> #\ I’m still unable to make my rails application use that gem. config/environment.rb (at the end): ENV[‘GEM\_PATH’] = ‘/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8:/my/path/to/local/gems’ app/helpers/application\_helper.rb: require ‘rubygems’ require\_gem ‘mylocalgem’ module ApplicationHelper end app/controllers/user\_controller.rb: […] def show\_myclass @myclass = MyLocalGem::MyClass.new end […] And when I browse to /user/show\_myclass, I get: NameError in UserController#show\_myclass uninitialized constant UserController::MyLocalGem #{RAILS\_ROOT}/app/controllers/user\_controller.rb:265:in `show\_myclass’ What did I miss? Thanks, Karine ---
**Author:** ![edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/919ad9/32.png) [@edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/edhel)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 12:06pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-local-gems/116098/2 "2007-10-02T12:06:54Z")
Hi Karine How about installing Aptana Radrails, there is a GEM manager for you to use. ---
**Author:** ![edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/919ad9/32.png) [@edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/edhel)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 12:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-local-gems/116098/3 "2007-10-02T12:20:57Z")
On 2 Oct 2007, at 10:52, edhel wrote: > I’m still unable to make my rails application use that gem. > > config/environment.rb (at the end): > ENV[‘GEM\_PATH’] = ‘/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8:/my/path/to/local/gems’ > > app/helpers/application\_helper.rb: > require ‘rubygems’ > require\_gem ‘mylocalgem’ > module ApplicationHelper > end ApplicationHelper is really not for that. it’s probably not even loaded at the point your show\_myclass action is called. Stick your require\_gem ‘mylocalgem’ in environment.rb Fred ---
**Author:** ![edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/919ad9/32.png) [@edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/edhel)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 12:39pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-local-gems/116098/4 "2007-10-02T12:39:42Z")
On Oct 2, 12:05 pm, CCH [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > How about installing Aptana Radrails, there is a GEM manager for you > to use. I only have SSH access to that host, sorry. Karine ---
**Author:** ![edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/919ad9/32.png) [@edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/edhel)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 12:50pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-local-gems/116098/5 "2007-10-02T12:50:15Z")
On 2 Oct 2007, at 11:39, edhel wrote: > > ApplicationHelper is really not for that. it’s probably not even > > loaded at the point your show\_myclass action is called. > > Stick your require\_gem ‘mylocalgem’ in environment.rb > > OK, thanks for that good practice information, though it did not fix > the problem. You might need the ENV[‘GEM\_PATH’] stuff before rubygems is required. have you tried doing export GEM\_PATH=foo in a shell before starting the mongrels (or whatever it is you’re using) ? Is it still throwing an uninitalized constant error or is the require itself failing ? If the require isn’t failing then it’s probably nothing to do with where the gem is etc… Fred ---
**Author:** ![edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/919ad9/32.png) [@edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/edhel)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 1:09pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-local-gems/116098/6 "2007-10-02T13:09:41Z")
On Oct 2, 12:49 pm, Frederick C. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > You might need the ENV[‘GEM\_PATH’] stuff before rubygems is required. Wow, indeed, that was so obvious I’m ashamed I didn’t think about it. The problem is still there though. > have you tried doing export GEM\_PATH=foo in a shell before starting > the mongrels (or whatever it is you’re using) ? I’m not starting anything, my host has its webserver configured properly to serve rails apps. GEM\_PATH is in my .bash\_profile, which may have helped irb to find the gem, but I’m surprised ENV[‘GEM\_PATH’] in environment.rb is not enough to make it work for the rails app. > Is it still throwing an uninitalized constant error or is the require > itself failing ? If the require isn’t failing then it’s probably > nothing to do with where the gem is etc… Yes, still the same unitialized constant error. Thanks for trying to nail down the issue, I guess I will have to ask my host if they have any specific config that causes this problem… Karine ---
**Author:** ![edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/919ad9/32.png) [@edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/edhel)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 1:17pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-local-gems/116098/7 "2007-10-02T13:17:55Z")
On 2 Oct 2007, at 12:08, edhel wrote: > > have you tried doing export GEM\_PATH=foo in a shell before starting > > the mongrels (or whatever it is you’re using) ? > > I’m not starting anything, my host has its webserver configured > properly to serve rails apps. GEM\_PATH is in my .bash\_profile, which > may have helped irb to find the gem, but I’m surprised ENV[‘GEM\_PATH’] > in environment.rb is not enough to make it work for the rails app. Surely there is something you can start or restart: if you don’t restart whatever is picking up your rails code then it won’t pick up changes to environment.rb It’s entirely possible .bash\_profile only read when a shell is invoked, and not in other cases (I can never remember the difference between all those files) Fred ---
**Author:** ![edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/919ad9/32.png) [@edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/edhel)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 2:54pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-local-gems/116098/8 "2007-10-02T14:54:09Z")
On Oct 2, 1:16 pm, Frederick C. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Surely there is something you can start or restart: if you don’t > restart whatever is picking up your rails code then it won’t pick up > changes to environment.rb Well done! I killed the running dispatch.fcgi processes, a new one was spawned and the config files re-read. Everything is working fine now, many thanks 🙂 Karine ---
**Author:** ![edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/919ad9/32.png) [@edhel](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/edhel)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 12:39pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-local-gems/116098/9 "2007-10-02T12:39:42Z")
On Oct 2, 12:20 pm, Frederick C. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > app/helpers/application\_helper.rb: > > require ‘rubygems’ > > require\_gem ‘mylocalgem’ > > module ApplicationHelper > > end > > ApplicationHelper is really not for that. it’s probably not even > loaded at the point your show\_myclass action is called. > Stick your require\_gem ‘mylocalgem’ in environment.rb OK, thanks for that good practice information, though it did not fix the problem. I should note the same rails app is working fine on my development server, where the gem is installed in /usr/lib… (and I only need “require ‘mylocalgem’” to make it work, of course). So it’s really a configuration problem involving gems installed in a local prefix. Karine